Whispers in the Night
by Neuropsych
Summary: (COMPLETE) It's Jaffer's first trip through the Stargate with SG-1... and something will happen. It always does. (Rated for possible language, and who knows what else)
1. 01

Whispers in the Night  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own SG-1. I do own Jaffer!  
  
...............  
  
"You're really going to bring him?"  
  
Jack looked at Sam and then down at the black lab that was standing next to him, and smiled when Jaffer looked back up at him with those cheerful brown eyes that always made him smile.  
  
"Why not? It's not like we're going to be running into anything dangerous." He looked at Daniel. "Right?"  
  
The archeologist nodded. "Yeah. PX9-090 is deserted. SG-6 were there for almost two weeks and didn't see anything or anyone. Just some wildlife, the ruins we're going to be looking at, and a whole lot of trees. Jaffer can't get into any trouble there."  
  
Sam wasn't so sure. Jaffer seemed to be able to get into trouble if he were sitting in a box all by himself.  
  
Jack was, though. The others didn't know it, but the minute he and Hammond had thought up the idea, O'Neill had pored over the notes SG-6 had brought back and had made his own analysis of the planet's safety. He, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c were all prepared for danger, but Jaffer was Jack's baby, and O'Neill wasn't going to allow him to be in any more danger than ordinary life could throw at him.  
  
"Why don't you bring Jack, Teal'c?" Sam asked the Jaffa.  
  
"Andrew has Jack," Teal'c said. "He is using him for show and tell at school."  
  
"What? Why doesn't he have Jaffer, too?" Sam looked at O'Neill, wondering if Andrew had asked and Jack had refused to loan out his pride and joy.  
  
Jack shrugged, "Because Jaffer is the same color as Shadow, and Andrew's project is to show why a black lab can have yellow puppies... some DNA thing, or something..."  
  
"It is a genetic 'thing', O'Neill." Teal'c corrected.  
  
Jack nodded. "Same thing." He reached down and stroked Jaffer's big head. He didn't care what color his baby was, Jaffer was perfect.  
  
"So you're going to bring Jaffer with us?"  
  
Jack nodded. He certainly wasn't going to leave him home alone for however long it took them to do this little research thing Daniel wanted to do. Besides, Jaffer was getting pretty close to his full growth, now, and O'Neill and Hammond had been considering how they might be able intermingle dogs into the SG teams. Considering the impressive display of force that Jaffer had shown only a couple months before when some would-be thieves had broken into Jack's house, it was worth considering having one on each team. So he'd take Jaffer, and see how he handled himself on another world.  
  
"SG-1," Hammond had arrived in the briefing room and motioned for them all to sit down. "Is your team ready to leave, Colonel?"  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
"And are you taking Jaffer?"  
  
"Planned to, Sir."  
  
"Good." Hammond turned to Daniel. "How long do you think you'll need, Doctor Jackson?"  
  
"A week, General," Daniel said. "By then I should know who built the ruins, and we can hopefully deduce where they went, or if they simply died out. It's really very interesting to think that these folks might..." He trailed off, because no one at the table looked at all as if they thought it was interesting, and Daniel realized he'd entered lecture mode without thinking. He cleared his throat. "About a week."  
  
Hammond nodded, looking at Jack.  
  
"If this planet truly is deserted, you might look around and see if it's a place we might consider as a Beta site, Colonel. We can always use a good place to make another base – or a training base."  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
"SG-1, you have a go. You'll leave in half an hour, as soon as you've had a chance to gather your gear from supply."  
  
And their weapons from the armory. Jack wasn't about to go to a strange planet without a couple guns in hand.  
  
Hammond watched as O'Neill's team stood up and filed out of the room, heading down the corridor towards Supply, and then he stood up and went into his office. He'd come see them off, but he had paperwork to do before then, and Jack O'Neill certainly didn't need Hammond's helping deciding what to take off-world.  
  
.....................  
  
"I say we forego the MREs and take dehydrated food," Daniel said on the walk down the hall.  
  
"Are you going to cook?" Sam asked him.  
  
"Well, I'm probably going to be busy translating all the ruins..." Daniel said. "But it'd still be nice to not have to eat the-"  
  
"We could take turns cooking," Jack said. He didn't mind MREs, of course, but why take them if they didn't need to? "We're not going to be getting chased or anything, so it's not like we can't afford the extra weight the cooking pans will make." Besides, they were taking a 40 pound bag of dog food, and that right there was 40 pounds more than they were used to carrying. What was a little more going to hurt?  
  
"It's going to be a regular ole camping trip," Sam said. "Might as well bring marshmallows and the makings for s'mores."  
  
"What is a s'more?" Teal'c asked.  
  
"It's a sandwich made out-"  
  
"Daniel..." Jack interrupted, looking at Teal'c. "We wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, now would we?"  
  
"Um... no, I guess not."  
  
"Why don't you run to the commissary and gather up the makings for them while Sam and I get our gear? Teal'c? Go get the guns." Camping trip or not, it wasn't a vacation. They'd go armed.  
  
.................  
  
Half an hour later, they were standing in the embarkation room, ready to go. Teal'c was carrying the extra items in his pack, including the dog food. That was one of the good things about having Teal'c on the team, Jack decided a long time ago. Not only was the guy a hell of a shot, but also he was stronger than any of them, and didn't mind being the workhorse of the group when his strength was needed.  
  
Jack looked down at Jaffer, who was at heel next to him. The big lab's tail was wagging idly, and he watched the gate with interest as the chevrons locked and the things turned. He wasn't nervous, and he'd never be afraid, but something different was happening, because he'd never been with his Jack like this, obviously ready to go somewhere, even though they weren't outside, so he was a little excited.  
  
"You stay close to me, little man," Jack told his dog.  
  
Jaffer wagged his tail harder. Of course he'd stay with Jack!  
  
"Ready?" Jack looked over the rest of his team, checking the load on his P- 90.  
  
"Ready."  
  
"Yup."  
  
Teal'c didn't reply, he just waited for the final chevron to lock. He was always ready.  
  
It did, the gate activated, and the five of them headed up the ramp. 


	2. 02

The minute they were through the gate, the human and Jaffa members of SG-1 had their weapons up. Just in case. Yeah, everything they knew about the planet told them that it was deserted, but that didn't mean it was. Nothing came up to them, though, and no threat presented itself to challenge their presence.  
  
"Carter. Teal'c. You guys check the perimeter. Daniel?" Jackson turned and looked at Jack. "Stay close."  
  
Daniel sighed.  
  
Jack looked down at Jaffer to see how his dog had fared through the gate, but Jaffer took the odd travel method the same way he took everything that came at him. Cheerfully and without complaint. His black fur was lightly tinged with frost, but it was already melting in the warm afternoon sun, and Jaffer simply shook himself, flinging water droplets all over Jack and Daniel, and then looked up at Jack to see what he was supposed to do now.  
  
"Carter?"  
  
"It's clear here, Sir."  
  
"Teal'c?"  
  
"I see nothing, O'Neill. The area appears to be deserted, as reported."  
  
The two of them returned and Jack nodded.  
  
"Let's go find Daniel's ruins, then, and get camp set up."  
  
"They're not too far from here," Daniel assured him.  
  
"Take point, then, Daniel."  
  
The archeologist took the lead while the others walked behind him, Jack telling Jaffer to heel so the lab would know he didn't want him to stray just then. Jaffer picked up the slight tenseness in Jack and the others that they always felt whenever they were on a new planet, and did as he was told, his brown eyes looking around carefully, although he had no idea what the others were looking for. He'd be ready, though, when whatever it was they were waiting for came.  
  
"It looks like a nice place to spend a few days," Sam commented, as they walked through a small clearing and then headed for a forested area. The trees were tall and lush, and the warm sunshine filtered through the leaves, stirring with the slight breeze that kept the five of them from feeling uncomfortably warm, even though the day was mild.  
  
"It looks like a forest, Carter."  
  
Sam grinned, because she happened to know that despite his continual complaining about trees, Jack actually liked the wooded areas far more than he liked deserts and sand. He _did_ have a cabin in the forest, after all. If he hated them as much as he pretended to, he'd have built his vacation hideaway in Arizona, and not on a lake, in the middle of the woods.  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
He gave her a smile, but turned his attention back to the surrounding area immediately. There was a time to flirt and play, but this wasn't it, and they both knew it. Not when he wasn't completely sure that the area was safe. Although so far it was exactly what SG-6 had said it was. Beautiful, quiet and just plain nice.  
  
"They're right over here, Jack," Daniel's voice came back to them, and a moment later, the five of them were once more in a clearing. A large one, this time, which was dominated by a massive stone area with walls and pillars – all of which looked like they'd been standing there pretty much forever.  
  
"Wow."  
  
"Control yourself, Daniel," Jack said, dryly, looking around and completely unimpressed by the walls and their age. "Let's check the perimeter of the clearing and make sure there's no surprises waiting for us, then we'll find a place to make our camp."  
  
Sam and Teal'c went one direction, Jack, Daniel and Jaffer went the other direction, and they circled the clearing. Daniel's attention was on the ruins and the walls, already cataloguing the scripts he was seeing and his fingers itching to start running along the chiseled areas, but Jack and Jaffer were both looking around far more carefully. Jack using his eyes and ears to seek out anything that might be a danger to his team, and Jaffer using his nose eyes and ears as he, too, searched for anything odd. Although he knew that there was nothing that could threaten him. Nothing would dare challenge him, right?  
  
"We didn't see anything, Colonel." Sam said as they all met on the other side of the clearing.  
  
"Yeah, it looks clear," Jack agreed.  
  
Daniel walked over to the nearest wall, which was only about eight feet away, and knelt down next to it, running his fingers along the symbols that were carved into it – or chiseled into it, Jack didn't know.  
  
"This looks like Greek," the archeologist murmured.  
  
"Looks Greek to me," Jack agreed, drawing a smile from Sam. Daniel ignored that.  
  
"It's possible that the people who built this were precursors to the Greeks, the Romans, or even the..."  
  
He trailed off as Jaffer ambled over with Jack, and the lab sniffed the wall nearby, obviously showing an interest as well. Then he cocked his leg and peed against the finely carved symbols that were closest to the ground.  
  
"Jack!"  
  
"Let's find a place to set up camp, Daniel. Then you can come back and look at this stuff as long as you want."  
  
"He peed on the-"  
  
"I know, Daniel." What was Jack supposed to do about it? "It'll dry."  
  
"Keep him away from my walls, Jack."  
  
"It's his first time off-world, Daniel. Give him a little leeway."  
  
Jack turned and headed off into the woods once more, followed closely by Jaffer and Sam, then Teal'c, and finally Daniel, who turned and took one more look at the wet spot on the wall he had wanted to start with. Ah well, he'd start somewhere else. 


	3. 03

"This is fascinating..."  
  
Jack looked over to where Daniel was sitting on the ground next to one of the main walls that had initially – probably – been a large part of the supports of the building that had crumbled.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
The archeologist nodded. "This place has all the earmarks of having once been a temple." Daniel pointed at the stone floor, which led off into another section of ruins. "This would have been the main worship area – there should be an alter somewhere – and over there would have been where people came to pray or whatever they did..."  
  
"What is there to do at an alter besides pray?" Despite himself Jack asked the question, knowing it was just going to encourage Daniel into telling him more.  
  
"Well... there's all sorts of things, Jack. There's sacrifices, and ritual chanting, and-"  
  
"Sacrifices?"  
  
Daniel shrugged. "There could have been."  
  
"Were there?"  
  
"I've only been here about half an hour, Jack. Give me a little time to get a feel for the dialect of these engravings."  
  
"Take all the time you need, Daniel. Just stay where we can see you. Or hear you."  
  
Of course, he didn't show any sign of wanting to go anywhere but the dirt he was sitting on just then, so that probably wasn't going to be a problem. At least not right now.  
  
Jack wandered off, going over to see what Teal'c and Sam were doing, Jaffer coming up to walk beside him.  
  
They'd decided to set up their camp just on the edge of the clearing. Daniel had been all for camping right in the middle of the ruins, but Jack had overruled him. For one thing, he didn't want to be in the middle of the ruins, and for another thing, he didn't want to sleep on rocks when there was perfectly good dirt and grass available for sleeping on. Now their camp consisted of four one-man tents that could be taken down or put up quickly, all placed around a campfire that was built, but wasn't lit.  
  
"Whatcha doing, Sam?" Jack asked as he came over to where Carter was sitting, propped up against a tree and out of the direct sunlight with her laptop open and resting on her thighs. Jaffer trotted ahead of Jack, going over and snuffling Sam's side, and then her face. With her seated, he was just as tall as she was, and had far more leverage. She smiled and patted him, but then pushed him away when his nose went to her laptop. He'd already chewed one of the corners off, back when he'd been a puppy, and Sam expected it was just a matter of time before he came over and finished the job properly. But not today.  
  
"Keeping a journal of what we're doing."  
  
"A report?" That was supposed to be Jack's job, but if she wanted to do it for him, who was he to say no?  
  
"No. A journal. Janet asked me to. Cassie's supposed to be keeping a journal for her English classes, and she thinks it's stupid, so Janet told her that I would if she would. So I have to, now."  
  
"Hmmm... wonder why she didn't ask me?"  
  
Sam smiled, a completely sarcastic smile.  
  
"Oh, I don't know..."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So, what?"  
  
"Am I in your 'journal'?"  
  
"Not yet. Jaffer is, though."  
  
The big lab sneezed, spraying the screen of Sam's laptop with dog snot, and Jack grinned as Sam sighed and reached for a handkerchief to wipe it off.  
  
"Well... we'll leave you to your... journaling."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"I'm going to go have a look around. If you need me, just holler."  
  
"Will do."  
  
He rested his hand on her shoulder for just a moment, a gentle touch that was the surrogate for a kiss when the opportunity really called for a little less intimacy – such as being off-world – and Sam touched the back of his hand for an equally short amount of time, smiling up at him.  
  
Jaffer, of course, didn't care about when he could kiss Sam or not. He took full advantage of her distraction to stick his nose in her face and lick her cheek – all the way across to the other cheek.  
  
"Gah."  
  
They made their escape while Sam was still wiping her face, and Jack waved at Teal'c as they passed the Jaffa. Teal'c was testing the water in the stream to see if it was safe for drinking straight. Otherwise they were going to be spending the entire week drinking water purified with little tablets – and that tasted like crap.  
  
"We're going to have a look around, keep an eye on things."  
  
Teal'c nodded, knowing that O'Neill had his weapon with him and would call if he were needed. Not to mention, he had Jaffer with him as well, and the dog could give him plenty of warning if something was getting too close that shouldn't be.  
  
They wandered into the woods, Jaffer ranging out ahead of Jack, flushing the occasional ground mammal, like rabbits and squirrels, but not chasing them – even though he really wanted to. He was working, he knew. Eventually there would be time to play, and then he'd find something to chase and catch.  
  
A noise caught Jaffer's attention, and the big head turned to the right, causing Jack to look that way as well. He didn't see anything. Jaffer obviously did, though, because the dog crouched a little, his tail wagging idly. This told Jack that whatever it was, Jaffer didn't think it was dangerous. Otherwise the hackles would have come up, and the lab's entire body would have tensed, which meant the tail would never be wagging. He tightened his grip on his gun, though, as he walked up behind Jaffer. Just because the dog didn't perceive something as a threat, didn't mean it wasn't. Jaffer was still young, and very inexperienced when it came to alien things, after all.  
  
Jack caught sight of something tawny colored, and heard a rustle in the brush. Just as he was raising his gun, though, the creature came out of the dense brush, and O'Neill could see it was some kind of deer-like creature. About as big as a white tailed deer back home, only with three very small antlers.  
  
Jaffer wagged his tail viciously, but he didn't chase that, either.  
  
"So..." Jack said, lowering his gun, and resuming their look around. "We have birds, and squirrels, and rabbits and some kind of deer..."  
  
Jaffer looked up at him, his brown eyes cheerful.  
  
"Ya just gotta wonder what eats them all..."  
  
Jaffer didn't wonder at all. He didn't care. Whatever it was – if there was anything – it wouldn't come near him. Nothing could hurt him. He sneezed again, and headed off once more into the woods. He wasn't done looking around. And neither was Jack. 


	4. 04

"Find anything interesting?"  
  
Jack shook his head. He and Jaffer were returning from their walk, which had ended up being quite the hike, although they hadn't strayed all that far from the camp. They'd just made a huge circle around it, checking for anything that might pose a risk to his team during their stay. They'd found a large stream that could be used for bathing or just soaking, and Jaffer had flushed a lot more wildlife out of the brush, but neither of them had seen anything to make them nervous, or anything that looked remotely dangerous.  
  
Once they'd made the entire circuit, and had ended up where they'd started, more or less, Jack had decided it was time to check on the others. Besides, it looked like it was starting to get late, and he wanted to make sure everything was okay at camp, and that Daniel wasn't cross-eyed, yet, from staring at the same wall for the last two hours.  
  
O'Neill looked over at the ruins, where Daniel was still sitting in the place he'd been sitting when Jack left. He now had a notebook and a clipboard on his lap, though, and was writing something – notes most likely, Jack decided. Teal'c was lounging nearby, his staff weapon close at hand in case he needed it.  
  
"Has Daniel even _moved_?"  
  
"He came over and got some paper, mumbled something about Greek or Roman, and went right back to where he is now."  
  
"Did you finish writing your journal?"  
  
"For today."  
  
"Am I in it, now?"  
  
Sam smiled. He was like a puppy with a shoe. "Yes, you're in it."  
  
"Can I read it?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Awww..."  
  
"Nope."  
  
He tried the sad puppy eyes. Nothing doing. Sam shook her head.  
  
"Sam..."  
  
"It's supposed to be _private_, Jack."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Why don't we go see what Daniel's doing?"  
  
"He's looking at the wall."  
  
"Maybe we can help."  
  
She stood up and dusted off her pants, then the three of them walked over to the walled ruin that Daniel was sitting next to. He was tracing a symbol with his finger, and then drawing it on the paper on the clipboard in his lap, muttering softly to himself, obviously puzzled.  
  
"What have you found out, Daniel?"  
  
There was no response.  
  
"Daniel!"  
  
Daniel looked up. Obviously he hadn't heard them approach.  
  
"Sorry. What?"  
  
"What have you learned?" Jack asked, slowly.  
  
Daniel scowled.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"_Nothing_?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Who built it?"  
  
Daniel shrugged. "No clue."  
  
"What kind of people are they?" Sam asked.  
  
"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure what kind of writing it is." He scowled, again, his face still looking puzzled. "Or even if it is writing. It might just be pictures."  
  
He looked over at Jaffer, who had wandered off slightly down the wrecked wall, and scowled, thinking the dog was looking for a new place to water. "At first I thought it might be Roman, since some of the pictures have the same style of characterization that are found in the ancient Roman scripts dating back from-"  
  
"_Daniel_..."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"It's not Roman?" Sam asked.  
  
"It's nothing from Europe, Sam. Not anything I recognize, anyways. It's pictoform of some sort, I'm almost positive, but I'm not sure what the pictures represent. There's none of the tell tale symbols, like water or fire to use as a common denominator."  
  
"We have plenty of time to figure it out," Jack told him, looking over to check on Jaffer. The black lab was working his way across the ruins, his nose close to the ground, and his tail wagging. Obviously he'd found a trail made by something interesting, Jack decided. "Let's get some dinner started."  
  
"You guys go ahead. I'm going to work on this-"  
  
"Daniel. You can work on it until I get dinner made, then you're done until morning."  
  
"Jack, I need more ti-"  
  
Jaffer sneezed, drawing Jack's attention once more to his dog. Sam turned as well, frowning when she watched Jaffer vanish behind a half-crumbled wall that was about halfway across the ruined floor. He sneezed again, and she saw his tail stop wagging. Jack saw it as well, and stood up. Then the tail vanished, and in the silence of the afternoon they could hear his claws scrabbling on the stone.  
  
"Jaffer?"  
  
Jack headed across the ruin to see what was so interesting, followed closely by Teal'c who'd picked up his staff weapon.  
  
"Jaffer?"  
  
Jack came around the wall and saw the black lab digging at a depression in the side of the wall. The dog wasn't prone to digging at home – something Jack's yard was grateful for – but he was going at it with a passion just then, his tail once more wagging as he made his way through the crumbled remains of the wall and into the soft core of whatever it was the inside of the wall was made of.  
  
"Jack! Don't let him do that." Daniel had come over as well, with Sam, and was extremely annoyed to find Jack's dog trying to destroy the entire wall single-handedly. Bad enough he'd already peed on it.  
  
"Jaf-"  
  
The dog sneezed, then lunged forward, his head disappearing into the hole he'd made in the wall; the black tail wagging so hard his butt was wagging as well.  
  
"What in the world is he doing?"  
  
"He's destroying the-"  
  
Jaffer pulled his head out of the wall. He was dusty and covered in some kind of dark slimy substance, but none of them noticed. In his mouth the black lab had the edge of a very tattered, very ancient-looking cloth bag - which was also dirty and covered with the slimy substance - that was so large, he was still pulling it out of the wall.  
  
Daniel reached out, touching the bag as well, but it was Jack who helped Jaffer get it the rest of the way out of its hiding spot. Whatever it was, and whatever might be in it, it was large, but extremely pliable.  
  
"What the hell...?"  
  
Jaffer sneezed again. 


	5. 05

"What is it?"  
  
"A bag."  
  
"I think it's sack cloth," Daniel corrected, looking at his hand with interest. It was covered with whatever slimy material was inside this section of the wall, although it was a solid enough substance that it didn't come pouring out of the dog head size hole Jaffer had made in the wall.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
The bag was about four feet long, and made of such tattered cloth – or whatever – that Jack was amazed Jaffer hadn't ripped it open with his teeth when he'd pulled it out. The cloth (it looked like _cloth_ to Jack) was dark, but he couldn't tell if it had started out that color, or it was dark because it was wet with goo. Jack was also faintly aware of some kind of odor coming from the cloth – or the goo – he wasn't sure. It wasn't anything foul, and it was barely noticeable, but it smelled kind of... good.  
  
Jaffer sneezed, shaking his head to try and clear the stuff that was clinging to his fur.  
  
"What is this stuff?" Jack asked, pulling out a handkerchief and calling Jaffer over to him. The lab came over and O'Neill wiped the slimy stuff from his face, as Daniel examined the bag and the goo on it.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"You know, Daniel... you're using that phrase a lot today."  
  
Daniel scowled at Jack, but Sam smiled.  
  
"It might be some kind of preserving substance," the archeologist said. "This bag looks like it's ancient, but it's still in one piece."  
  
"You think it's dangerous?" Jaffer was covered in it, after all.  
  
"I doubt it." Daniel reached over and touched Jaffer's fur, and the lab turned his head and licked Daniel's hand. "He doesn't seem to be in any distress."  
  
Actually, he seemed to like the stuff, since he was still licking it off Daniel's hand. Of course, Jaffer liked lots of things that weren't so good for him, and Jack knew it.  
  
"Don't let him do that."  
  
"It smells." Sam said.  
  
"Yes." Teal'c agreed. "It smells of fig."  
  
"What's in the bag?" Jack asked.  
  
"Should we open it?" Sam asked. She had visions of a dead body or something like that rolling out once they cut the bag open, although the sack wasn't really big enough for that.  
  
"Why not?" Jack asked, clearing the goo from around Jaffer's eyes.  
  
Daniel pulled out his knife and slit open the top of the bag carefully, then extended the cut lengthwise a couple of feet. A small, square piece of bark – or something – fell out, and Daniel picked it up. It was light, about the same size as a large potato chip, and it had glyphs engraved onto it.  
  
"Wow..."  
  
"What is it?" Sam asked, before Jack or Teal'c could.  
  
Jaffer reached out and sniffed the object in Daniel's hand – probably to see if it was something to eat – and sneezed again. Daniel pulled his hand away, wiping it absently off on his pants.  
  
"It's a glyph." Daniel said, looking from the chip to Sam and the others, and seeing that they had no idea what that meant. "A picture," He explained."  
  
"The walls are covered in pictures, Daniel," Jack told him.  
  
"Yes, Jack, I know." Daniel said, impatiently. "But those pictures I don't understand. This one is Mayan. It's the glyph that means _corn_." He pointed at the little picture that was engraved – or carved – into the chip.  
  
"What is the other symbol?" Sam asked, pointing. There was more than one picture on the chip.  
  
"I don't know..." Daniel said. "It matches one of the ones on the wall, though." He pointed at the closest wall.  
  
"Maybe it means 'corn', too," Jack guessed.  
  
"Are there more of these, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.  
  
Daniel used the blade of the knife to pull the cloth of the bag back, and exposed that there were, indeed, more of the little chips. Hundreds of them.  
  
"It's a Rosetta stone type thing..." Daniel murmured, picking up another one as Jaffer sneezed again.  
  
"Whatever it is, it's playing havoc with Jaffer's nose," Jack said, standing up.  
  
"A Rosetta stone thing?" Sam asked, far more interested than Jack was.  
  
"You know... one language translated by using another, more common language..."  
  
"Are you sure it's Mayan?"  
  
"Not from just looking at one or two of these," Daniel said, shrugging. "But I'll look them over and see if there's more that I recognize, and then compare them to the ones on the walls. Then I might be able to understand this place a little better."  
  
"Why would someone – or _someones_ – put these things in a sack and stuff them into a wall?" Jack asked. "Why not just put it all out for you to find?"  
  
Daniel shrugged. He didn't really care. He'd spent the afternoon frustrated by his inability to understand the pictures that were taunting him, and now he might have a way to translate them.  
  
"I don't know, Jack." He looked at another chip, recognizing the symbol for king. "This is _great_. I need my paper to take notes..." He looked around and then stood up, obviously enraptured by the find.  
  
Jack and the others watched as he went over and retrieved his clipboard and notebook, then came back and sat down next to the hole Jaffer had dug into the wall, and the bag the black lab had yanked from it. Obviously he had no intention of going anywhere.  
  
"Yeah..." O'Neill pretended to look indecisive, "Well, Daniel... I'd love to stand here and watch you... um... take notes... But I'm not going to."  
  
Jaffer sneezed again.  
  
"And neither are you, little man." Jack wondered if it were the chip things themselves that had Jaffer's nose going crazy, or if it was something else in the air, although the sneezes were more frequent than they'd been earlier.  
  
"What?" Daniel looked up for just a moment, before returning to the chip in his hand and making a note on the paper in his lap.  
  
"Carter..."  
  
Sam looked up.  
  
"I'm going to go get this stuff off Jaffer. Make sure Daniel doesn't spontaneously combust with excitement, will you?"  
  
She smiled, and Jack walked off, Jaffer at his side. 


	6. 06

Many pet owners in the past have found that washing their dogs can be quite a trial. Many dogs, even water dogs such as labs and spaniels, don't like baths, not matter how much they like the water at any other time. Which makes it difficult to get them to hold still for the cleaning process. Jack had never had that problem.  
  
Jaffer loved baths. He loved the water, but more importantly he loved the way Jack's hands were all over him when O'Neill was washing him. He always had, even when he was a puppy. Jack's biggest concern when washing Jaffer was getting the dog out of the water when it was done, and even that wasn't all that hard. So it was hardly a chore for Jack to take Jaffer to the stream they'd found earlier and wash the black lab's head and chest.  
  
The stuff that had been in the wall came off fairly easily, luckily. A little scrubbing with the fingers loosened it nicely, and then Jack just splashed water on Jaffer's face to rinse the mess off. Jaffer, of course, loved this game, and tried to catch the water in his mouth as Jack splashed him. Consequently, it took a little longer to wash him than it should have, but still far less time than it would have if Jaffer were like every other dog. And if Jack was a little wet by the time he and Jaffer came out of the stream (okay, a _lot_ wet) oh well, it was warm, even though it was definitely starting to get late, and he could see that someone – most likely Teal'c – had started the campfire. He'd dry.  
  
"Come on, little man," Jack said. "Let's get you dried off, and then get some dinner going."  
  
Jaffer's brown eyes grinned happily up at Jack as the black lab shook himself coming out of the water. Yes! Dinner was definitely something they needed to look into getting started.  
  
Teal'c was already ahead of Jack. The Jaffa had a large pan of hot water already boiling, and had coffee going in a percolator. Dinner was started.  
  
"Sam with Daniel?" Jack asked as he came into their campsite and headed for his tent to get a towel.  
  
"Yes. Daniel Jackson is most excited."  
  
"Oh, I bet."  
  
Teal'c gave that little half-smile he normally gave when something amused him, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he added the packages of dehydrated food into the boiling water, and began stirring it. In only a few minutes, they'd have a very good meal waiting for them. If they could get Daniel away from the wall long enough to eat it.  
  
..............  
  
He was right about how difficult it was to get Daniel away from the wall. The archeologist had a lapful of the little chip-like things, and was studiously trying to compare them to the notes he'd already taken on the pictures on the walls. Whenever he found one that didn't match a picture he'd already seen, he'd look at the wall next to him, then ask Sam if she could see anything that looked like the picture on the chip. Carter would take the chip from him, and go along the walls, looking frequently at the chip and at the wall. Daniel might recognize one of the drawings immediately, but Sam needed a little more time for each. Inevitably, though, she'd find one, and would bring the chip back to Daniel and tell him that, yes, it did match.  
  
By the time Jack and Jaffer came over to the wall, Daniel (and occasionally Sam) had worked their way through about 40 of the little chips, but there were still a lot to look through. The bag was filled, after all.  
  
"Dinner's ready," Jack said as Jaffer went over to Sam and whuffled her hand in greeting. Then he sneezed, and Sam wiped her hand off.  
  
"Is he allergic to me all of the sudden?" She asked Jack, confused.  
  
"I think it's either the stuff on the bag, or the stuff those little square things are made of," Jack said, calling Jaffer over to him. "Probably the stuff the squares are made of, since he didn't sneeze too much while I was washing him."  
  
"But he sneezed?"  
  
Jack nodded.  
  
"The squares are made out of the inner bark of some tree," Daniel said, absently, just to get them to stop talking so he could concentrate on what he was doing. "So chances are the people who made them used an indigenous tree, and Jaffer's allergic to it. Or maybe it's just something that tickles his nose." Who knew more about allergies than Daniel, after all?  
  
"Huh..." Jack shrugged. It was as good an answer as anything, especially since it was more of an answer than he had.  
  
"Obviously it doesn't hurt him," Sam said, watching as Jaffer sniffed the bag, and sneezed once more. Daniel moved the bag a little, not wanting to get dog snot all over it.  
  
"Good thing," Jack said, calling Jaffer over. "Daniel... dinner's ready. Put down your toys and let's eat."  
  
"You guys go ahead without me, I want to get a few more of these-"  
  
"Daniel. They'll be here when you get done eating."  
  
He looked up, and saw that Jack wasn't going to budge on this one.

Daniel scowled.  
  
Jack ignored it.  
  
"Just a few more..."  
  
"Just leave them where they are. None of us will play with them, and when you're done eating you can come back for a little while." Before it got too dark to see anything.  
  
"But..."  
  
"Daniel."  
  
Damn.  
  
"Fine." Daniel carefully placed the chips he'd already matched over to one side, and left the ones he had yet to look through on another side, and stood up, stiffly, since he hadn't moved in a couple of hours. "Don't let Jaffer eat any of them."  
  
How well Daniel knew Jack's dog.  
  
"He's coming with us, Daniel."  
  
They all walked over to the camp, although Daniel looked back at the walls a couple more times, almost tripping over one of the ruined stone floor pillars, until Jack called him back to the here and now. It was annoying to be so close to solving a puzzle and be forced to walk away long enough to do anything. Even eat.  
  
By the time he'd eaten, though, Daniel had to admit he was glad for the chance to rest his eyes. And his brain. The meal had been good. As good as anything Daniel made himself at home, and the company, as always, was enjoyable. He even managed to join in on the conversation that Sam and Jack had – teaching Teal'c all about making s'mores. There were, after all, various ways to stack the chocolate and the marshmallows, and Daniel knew his way was the best. Double-decker all the way, baby!  
  
Jack shooed him away, though, when the meal was over, knowing that he wanted to get back to his little chips. He and Sam would take care of the dishes, since Teal'c had cooked, and Daniel was free to do as he pleased until bedtime. The archeologist immediately got to his feet and hurried back to the ruins, leaving his tray of graham crackers sitting there unguarded in his haste to get back.  
  
Jaffer looked over at Jack, saw that O'Neill was deep in conversation with Sam and Teal'c about setting watches for the night, and looked back at the plate of crackers. Crackers that would definitely prefer to be eaten immediately before they could be smeared with melted marshmallow and chocolate – which, incidentally, Jaffer wasn't allowed to have. His eyes never left Jack as he leaned over and gathered the unsuspecting graham crackers into his mouth and slunk off quietly over by the dark side of the tent to eat them in peace.


	7. 07

Teal'c took the first watch as Jack and Sam did the dishes. The sun had gone down by then, and the night was really closing in on them. Jack didn't mind, though. He'd never been afraid of the dark, and he knew the area around the camp fairly well after his walk that afternoon. Which had been the whole idea. With Jaffer standing guard over them, watching for anything that might be sneaking up on them in the dark, the two washed and dried the dishes, then headed back to the welcoming glow of the campfire, taking the chance to steal a gentle caress and a couple kisses.  
  
"Hear anything wandering around out there in the dark?" Jack asked Teal'c as he headed past the Jaffa towards the ruins. It was getting late, and it was bedtime for a certain archeologist. Whether said archeologist _wanted_ to go to bed or not.  
  
"There has been nothing, O'Neill." Teal'c told him.  
  
Jack nodded, and left Teal'c alone. He knew how to keep watch without O'Neill telling him what to look for, after all. He walked over to where the flashlight glow told him Daniel was, and knelt down next to him.  
  
"How's it going, Daniel?"  
  
"Great, Jack." Daniel help up one of the square chips. "This one means _water_."  
  
"Cool." Jack took it, and looked at it, then looked at the huge stack that Daniel still had to go through. "Which one means _bedtime_?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's bedtime, Daniel. As in, 'time to go to bed'."  
  
"I'm not tired, Jack. Go ahead and go on without-"  
  
"Daniel, I'm not asking you. It's dark, and you're probably going to ruin your eyes trying to read this stuff in the dark. It'll be here in the morning, and I promise you that you can have all day to do nothing but squint over these things."  
  
"But."  
  
"_Bedtime_." Jack repeated.  
  
Daniel scowled. Again.  
  
Jack ignored it. As always.  
  
"Fine..." Daniel's voice had the same quality as a four year old being told it was bedtime right before their favorite cartoon came on, and Jack reached down and helped him to his feet, grinning in the dark.  
  
"Where's Jaffer?" Daniel asked, suspiciously, looking around for the black lab, certain he was sneaking up on Daniel's unsuspecting bark chips at that very moment, just waiting to get a hold of them when they were unguarded.  
  
"He's with Sam, keeping her company." And probably trying to mooch a couple treats out of her.  
  
"Okay."  
  
The two men walked past Teal'c, who was walking a circuit around the camp, and into the glow of the campfire, where Sam and Jaffer were lounging on the sun-warmed grass that their tents were staked out on.  
  
"How's it going, Daniel?" Sam asked, hiding her amazement that Jack had managed to pull him out of the ruins so easily.  
  
"It'd be going a lot faster if I didn't have mother hen here making sure I ate and slept," Daniel complained, flopping down next to Sam with a pouty huff.  
  
Carter smiled. She understood completely, although this time she agreed with Jack. Of course, when it was her being told that it was time to call it a night when Sam was working on some project or the other, she was as reluctant as Daniel was to leave.  
  
"You'll get more done with a good night's sleep under your belt," Jack said, completely unrepentant.  
  
In deference to the fact that Daniel was doing far more on this particular trip than Jack, Teal'c or Sam, Daniel would not stand a watch at night, so he'd be fresh, mentally and physically. The others could always lounge around and nap during the day.  
  
"Yeah, yeah..." He scowled again, and sighed when it did no good. "I'm going to bed." He fully intended to be up the minute it was even a little light out.  
  
"Goodnight, Daniel." Jack told him, coming over and taking the spot Daniel vacated.  
  
"You're terrible..." Sam murmured softly, once Daniel had walked off, still grumbling to himself. Jaffer had wandered off with him, drawn by the smell of the chips that still lingered around him, but when he sneezed, Jack called him back to the fire.  
  
"He'll thank me in the morning, Sam," O'Neill told her, putting an arm around her, and leaning back against the log Teal'c had pulled over for them to sit on – or lean against. The night was getting a little chilly – not cold, by any means, but chilly – and the log was warmed by the fire nicely.  
  
"Think so?"  
  
"Well... no. But I couldn't let him stay up all night. He'd go cross-eyed."  
  
She smiled, and the two of them sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Sam found herself drifting off in his arms, however, and shook her head, finally.  
  
"I'd better get to bed."  
  
Jack nodded, kissing her softly. He and she would be sleeping in separate tents for the duration of the mission, and he hated not having her to cuddle with – although there was a very good reason to sleep apart when they were in unfamiliar areas, and Jack knew it. Sam did as well, and they both knew it would just make their first night back home that much more enjoyable.  
  
"Goodnight, Sam."  
  
"Night, Jack."  
  
She caught Jaffer's face in her hands and pulled the black nose close and kissed it, too, dodging the tongue that came out to reciprocate.  
  
"Goodnight, handsome boy."  
  
Jaffer's tail wagged, and his eyes grinned cheerfully at Sam. He loved her!  
  
She smiled, and headed off for bed, leaving Jack and Jaffer to watch her progress right up until she went into the tent. Then they both sighed.  
  
"We'd better get to bed, too, little man." Teal'c would be waking jack in a few hours for his watch. O'Neill always took the middle watch when there were three. That way the others could sleep eight hours straight. Or however long two watches ended up being. He figured that was his job, to take the shit shift.  
  
Jaffer wagged his tail again, stood up when Jack did, and followed O'Neill into their tent. 


	8. 08

It was only a couple hours later. Jaffer was restless and wanted out, and he was more than willing to let Jack know about it, even though O'Neill was sleeping peacefully. Straddling Jack's chest, Jaffer loomed over him, looking down and waiting for Jack to wake up and notice him. Nothing doing. Jack was asleep and not waking up. Jaffer lowered his head and licked Jack's face, and O'Neill tried to roll away, only to find himself bracketed by the big lab's big ole feet.  
  
"If Timmy isn't trapped down a well, you're in big trouble, little man..." Jack mumbled, sleepily, bringing his hand up to avoid another lick.  
  
Jaffer whuffled his face, this time keeping his tongue to himself, but he wanted out.  
  
Jack sighed, and slapped Jaffer's side gently, telling the dog he was awake, and yes, he'd let him out, just let him up. The big dog moved, and Jack sat up, mumbling incoherently. He looked at his watch; he still had another hour or so before Teal'c would come wake him for his watch. He opened the tent flap for Jaffer, and the dog headed toward it.  
  
"Don't go too far," Jack muttered. "And stay away from Daniel's little toys."  
  
Jaffer didn't respond, although Jack expected he would someday. Instead the dog left the tent, and Jack lay back down to go back to sleep. Jaffer wouldn't go far, he was too well-trained to stray.  
  
..................  
  
The large black dog moved stealthily around the camp, his feet making very little noise as he checked the area out, making sure no food was out and about making a pest out of itself that needed to be dealt with. Unfortunately, none was. Jaffer wandered a little ways from the dying fire, and his nose told him Teal'c was close at hand, even though he couldn't see the big Jaffa. He followed his nose, knowing that his nose was never wrong.  
  
Teal'c was leaning against a tree. Not because he was tired, because he wasn't, but because by leaning against a tree he was blending in with the surroundings and not making a target of himself. This planet didn't appear to have any threatening beings on it, but Teal'c was a warrior bred and raised, and you didn't get to be an _old_ warrior by making assumptions. He was watching the camp, and had seen Jack's tent open, and Jaffer leave. He'd also heard O'Neill say something, but even his sharp ears hadn't been able to make it out. More than likely, he was reminding his dog to stay close. The Jaffa had watched Jaffer make his rounds of the camp, then had lost track of the midnight colored dog when he went off into the trees. Right up until a sneeze only a few feet behind him caused Teal'c to turn, and look down.  
  
Sure enough, there he was, wagging his tail happily, waiting for Teal'c to pet him. Which the Jaffa did.  
  
"You should go back to bed, Jaffer," Teal'c said, reaching down and stroking the glossy hide that was so much like his own Jack's – only a different color.  
  
Jaffer wagged his tail, and turned his head. Something else had caught his attention. A smell he almost recognized. He sneezed again, and left Teal'c to finish his watch, trotting silently off into the darkness. Teal'c watched him go, but like Jack, he wasn't worried about Jaffer straying. He waited, looking to see which direction the dog headed, then went back to watching the camp, unwilling to be distracted for too long.  
  
......................  
  
"_Sheflid fi jab'lepidid_?"  
  
The voice made Jaffer stop short, and the dog was surprised when he saw a person standing in his way when a moment before there had been nothing. His head went up, and his tail stopped wagging, as he used his senses to tell him as much about this person as they could.  
  
The man – who didn't smell quite like a man to Jaffer – knelt down, and held his hand out to the dog in a gesture Jaffer recognized immediately. Jaffer wagged his tail slightly, unsure of what to do. The man didn't smell of fear, so obviously he wasn't afraid of him, which meant that he probably belonged here, even though he didn't smell familiar, either. But since he didn't smell familiar, Jaffer wasn't quite ready to just go on up and allow himself to be petted. If his Jack were with him, Jaffer would have. Jack gave Jaffer clues all the time without O'Neill realizing it. People that Jack didn't really like, Jaffer could tell immediately, and he was more wary around them. The people that Jack _did_ like – Sam, several other adults, and every kid that they'd ever come across – Jaffer knew immediately, and was all over these people in greeting.  
  
"_Canisla ki'flaj oladsue_?"  
  
The man wasn't saying anything that Jaffer understood, but by kneeling low he wasn't posing himself as a threat, and his voice was soft. Jaffer debated for another moment, then walked over to the outstretched hand to sniff it. His dark muzzle passed right through the hand, and the man muttered something to himself, in a tone that Jaffer recognized as friendly. His tail moved a little more as he wagged it in response.  
  
"_Skilad'd oc'f Sekpar_."  
  
The man's face tensed as he concentrated, and the hand was suddenly solid, and he reached for the black lab once more. This time when the man tried to pet Jaffer, he could, and Jaffer's tail wagged again. There was nothing the lab could find wrong with this person. He smelled a little strange, and Jaffer didn't understand what he was saying, but he didn't understand Jack all the time, either, so that couldn't be held against him.  
  
"_Pliadit_!"  
  
The man raised his voice and called, and a moment later Jaffer found himself surrounded by people. None of them any more substantial than the rest of the man, although the hand remained solid as it petted the black lab's face.  
  
There was a babble of voices, and Jaffer didn't understand any of them, but not all of the noise was coming from adults. There were several small forms among the large ones, and Jaffer had little hands passing through him as they all tried to pet him as well.  
  
"_Gedl'sef_."  
  
The little faces looked up at the first man, who was obviously telling them something, even though Jaffer didn't know what. Then there were a few looks of concentration, and once more he found himself surrounded by solid hands, all reaching out to touch him, curiously, timidly, and then with more confidence when they realized Jaffer wasn't a threat to them. The lab wagged his tail, and then sneezed. Which caused the little ones, and a number of the adults, to laugh. Jaffer knew that sound in any language, and his brown eyes grinned happily as he took all the attention they wanted to give him.  
  
"Jaffer!"  
  
"_Je'ldifidic_?" They all turned at the distant sound of Jack's voice in the night, the hands that had once been solid, suddenly once more ethereal. Jaffer turned as well.  
  
.....................  
  
Jack had laid in his sleeping bag for all of five minutes before deciding that he didn't want Jaffer outside alone at night. Not that he was worried about Jaffer straying. But... well... there could be something out there that might hurt his baby. Something Jaffer couldn't handle without him. He couldn't go back to sleep knowing that he should be guarding his baby while he looked for that perfect place to pee.  
  
He'd gotten out of the tent and looked around, expecting Jaffer to be nosing around the campfire, but the dog wasn't anywhere in sight. Jack wasn't worried, since he'd frequently lost sight of the black dog on a dark night in his own back yard. It was the nature of blending in, he supposed.  
  
"He went that way, O'Neill..."  
  
Teal'c's deep voice drew Jack's attention, and he looked and saw the Jaffa pointing off to the left, away from the ruins. Jack nodded, and walked the same direction, not making any noise since he didn't want to disturb the others. About five minutes later, he'd decided he was far enough away, and had called his dog, knowing Jaffer could be right in front of him and he wouldn't see him.  
  
"Jaffer!"  
  
............  
  
The call came again, and Jaffer looked up at the odd people who had materialized from no where, then back over his shoulder, obviously inviting them to come with him. They either didn't want to, or didn't understand, because none of them moved. With a sigh, Jaffer turned and went back the way he'd come. He wouldn't have dreamed of ignoring Jack for another call, and although he liked these new people –especially the little hands! – he loved Jack, and Jack's side was where he belonged.  
  
He followed his nose and found O'Neill only moments later, coming up behind him and sneezing. Jack jumped in surprise, and the grinned, reaching down to ruffle his dog's ears and head.  
  
"Where'd you go, little man?"  
  
Jaffer wagged his tail, not answering, and Jack ran his hands along the black lab's sides, just to make sure he was okay. Not that he was worried or anything, it was just... a... well... yeah, maybe he was a _little_ worried. The dog seemed fine, though. Even in the dark, Jack knew Jaffer's body well, and nothing seemed to have any swelling or bumps or cuts, and he finally slapped his side playfully, and stood up again.  
  
"We have watch soon, we might as well stay up and let Teal'c go to bed early, hey?"  
  
Jaffer wagged his tail. Why not?  
  
The two of them headed back towards camp, watched carefully by a small, invisible form that smiled when she saw the way the strange being interacted with the smaller, even stranger being that only a few minutes before she'd actually touched. Obviously they liked each other. She wanted them to like her, too.

"_Gedloi_?"

She turned at the sound of her name, and went back to the others, passing silently through the night, and the trees, and the rocks.


	9. 09

Jack didn't bother to wake Sam up for her watch when his four hours were up. He wasn't sleepy, and he knew he would have ended up just laying around in his sleeping bag, wide-awake. He could have woken Sam and spent her watch with her, but then they would definitely have been distracted, and that _wasn't_ how you stood a watch. Besides, Jaffer wasn't ready to settle down, anyways.  
  
The big lab kept looking out into the forest, as though something had half his attention, although Jack couldn't see or hear anything, and he knew by the way Jaffer acted that he wasn't feeling threatened. Not to judge by the way his tail was wagging and his ears were cocked forward like that. Something might be out in the darkness, but whatever it was, it wasn't a threat to them, and while Jack kept his side arm handy, he didn't keep his hand on the butt.  
  
The sky was just starting to get light out when Daniel woke up. He got out of his blankets and sat up with a groan. He needed coffee, especially after sleeping on the ground all night. Sam would have some made, he was sure. He'd grab a cup and head back to the ruins before Jack woke up and told him he had to eat breakfast. Daniel rolled over and staggered to his feet, shivering in the damp cold of the morning, and left his tent. He definitely smelled coffee brewing.  
  
"Morning, Daniel."  
  
It wasn't Sam standing by the newly rekindled fire. It was Jack. He hid the scowl that formed almost automatically, and forced a smile as Jaffer ambled over to say good morning as well.  
  
"Hi, Jack. You're up early."  
  
"No, I'm up _late_. You're up early."  
  
"You stood a double watch?"  
  
Jack nodded, and handed Daniel a cup of coffee, which the younger man took gratefully.  
  
"It was a pretty calm night, and I couldn't get Jaffer to settle, so I figured what the hell?"  
  
Daniel looked down at Jaffer, who waiting for Daniel to share his coffee with him. Which wasn't going to happen.  
  
"Was he sneezing?"  
  
"Only a couple times. We stayed clear of the ruins."  
  
Daniel nodded, and took a sip of his coffee, glancing over in the direction of the wall, but unsure of how to get Jack to let him escape without being rude, and without being forced to eat.  
  
Jack grinned, knowing exactly what Daniel was thinking. Or probably pretty close to what he was thinking, anyways. Daniel could be fairly transparent when he was focused on something like he was focused on translating those little bark chips.  
  
"Just go, Daniel," Jack said, shooing him away.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Someone will bring you breakfast. Go to your wall, and do your thing."  
  
Daniel smiled, relieved, and nodded.  
  
"Thanks, Jack."  
  
O'Neill didn't say anything, he just watched as the younger man scurried off to gather his notes from his tent, and then headed back to the ruins.  
  
Jaffer looked up at Jack, and O'Neill shrugged.  
  
"Must be getting soft in my old age..."  
  
................  
  
The morning was a nice one. By the time Sam and Teal'c had made their appearances Jack had breakfast started, and had already fed Jaffer, who had his nose in his dish. These kinds of missions were the best, as far as Jack was concerned. No one chasing them, no one after them for anything, and no screaming and yelling. He didn't even have to listen to anyone yell Kree.  
  
Jack pulled his bedroll out of the tent and spread it out next to one of the big rocks that he'd been leaning against the night before, and while Sam and Teal'c went to help Daniel with his translations (and took him some breakfast), Jack and Jaffer stretched out on the blanket and napped in the morning sun.  
  
............................  
  
"How's it coming, Daniel?" Sam asked, handing him a canteen filled with coffee, and looking down at him.  
  
"Hey, Sam, good morning." Daniel took the coffee with a smile; he was fully awake now, and immersed in his work. "It's going good."  
  
It was, too. Daniel felt refreshed from his night's sleep, and although he'd never admit it, Jack had been right. He was able to concentrate a lot better than he had the night before because of it. He found he was going through the squares a little faster than he had the evening before, although there were few he just couldn't figure out, simply because he didn't know all the Mayan glyphs. No one did, really. He was just going to hope he knew enough that he could get around the ones he didn't, and maybe figure them out from the context of the others.  
  
"You really understand this stuff?" Sam asked, picking up one of the chips.  
  
"Most of it."  
  
He took a bite of the sandwich Sam handed him, and washed it down with another swallow of coffee. "Hopefully I'll have the glyphs translated by tonight – tomorrow morning at the latest, then I can start figuring out what this all says." He gestured to the crumbled walls all around them.  
  
"Well, we're here to help in any way we can." She told him, pointing at herself and Teal'c, who nodded. He had his staff weapon close at hand, but he could help and guard for anything unexpected at the same time.  
  
"Could you see if you can find this symbol on any of the walls?" Daniel asked, handing the chip up to Sam, who showed it to Teal'c. The two of them went off in search of a match to it, and Daniel went on with the next picture.  
  
And so their morning went...  
  
................  
  
Jack slept, even though a part of him was aware of pretty much everything that was going on around him. It was the way he was when he was off-world, even on a planet that so far hadn't posed much of anything in the way of danger. It was just the way he was. And it had kept him alive so far. So he slept, but he also was conscious of when Jaffer's head came up from where it was resting on his thigh, although he didn't open his eyes, and he didn't fully wake up.  
  
The black lab had seen the ethereal form coming towards the spot where he and Jack were lounging, and had recognized it as a small one – which meant a kid, which meant it was a good thing. He wagged his tail idly, looking at Jack to se if he was going to greet it this time, and then looking back at the form when O'Neill didn't open his eyes.  
  
Friendly or not, however, when the small childlike form approached and knelt down, reaching a hand out to touch Jack, Jaffer stood up and placed himself between O'Neill and the figure, protectively. He didn't know this person, and no one he didn't know touched his Jack. The hand stopped at Jaffer, as though it understood the action, and the little girl smiled slightly, concentrating on her hand until it was solid, and then touching the dog.  
  
Jack was suddenly awake. Something around him had changed. Not anything physical; the air was still slightly cool from the leftover chill of the night before, and there was still the bright sunlight bathing him in its rays, but he suddenly had the feeling he wasn't alone, and the hairs on the back of his neck and on his arms were suddenly standing up. Add to it that Jaffer had suddenly moved away from his side to stand up, and that awareness inside him was instantly on alert.  
  
"_Ja-fer_."  
  
He sat up. That hadn't been his voice. It was female! And sounded much younger than Sam, who wasn't anywhere around. He thought he caught a glimpse of something tanned – a hand, it looked like, but that was ridiculous – and then it was gone, and no matter how long he and Jaffer stared at the space it had been, it didn't reappear.  
  
"What the hell...?" 


	10. 10

"A _hand_?"  
  
Daniel tried to look a little less skeptical than he felt, but it didn't work. Yeah, the way he said it, it sounded crazy, Jack knew, but he couldn't think of any way to say it that sounded any less crazy. He nodded.  
  
"A hand. Just a hand."  
  
"No arm attached?"  
  
"Damn it, Daniel... it was a _hand_. I saw it."  
  
Carter and Teal'c were both sitting at the wall as well, where they'd been taking a break from helping Daniel – who hadn't taken a break and didn't intend to any time soon.  
  
"It was just floating there?" Sam asked. He didn't look like he was messing with them, but with Jack, well... you never knew. "What was it doing?"  
  
"It was..." He scowled, realizing that they were never going to believe him. Hell, he didn't believe _himself_, for that matter. And then he was going to tell them that the hand was petting Jaffer? Oh, yeah, that was believable. "...Never mind."  
  
"Perhaps you dreamed of this hand, O'Neill," Teal'c suggested. He didn't believe O'Neill would lie, but a dream might be the only thing that made sense. A free-floating hand certainly did not. "You did say you were asleep, after all."  
  
Jack's scowl deepened, but he shrugged. He was pretty sure he hadn't dreamed that hesitant voice with the weird accent calling his dog's name, or the hand, for that matter. But he supposed there was always a chance that he had. Except that Jaffer had been looking in the exact same direction Jack had been, so it was obvious that the black lab had seen what he saw. Or they'd been having the same dream.  
  
"Nah, I wasn't dreaming it." He looked down at Jaffer, certain that he hadn't been dreaming it, either, and then turned to walk away.  
  
"Where are you going?" Sam asked.  
  
"I'm going to go look around again."  
  
"Do you want me to come with you?"  
  
"Nah, you stay and help Daniel... I'll be back soon."  
  
With Jaffer at his side, Jack walked back to the campsite and then knelt next to the dog, looking at the place he'd seen the hand.  
  
"_You_ saw it, right, little man?" He scratched Jaffer's ears, and the lab sighed with bliss at the touch. "Think you can find her?"  
  
Yeah... how to track an invisible hand attached to a little girl voice? Use a dog that probably doesn't have a clue what you're looking for any more than you do. Jaffer wagged his tail, though, and licked Jack's hand.  
  
"Find her, Jaffer..."  
  
Find her? He didn't mean Sam, because they both knew where Sam was. Jaffer sneezed, and wagged his tail, uncertainly, unsure what Jack wanted from him, but eager to do it.  
  
Jack gave up. It wasn't fair of him to ask Jaffer to do something so stupid, anyways. He stood up with a sigh, but slapped the black lab's side lovingly. It was Jaffer's fault he didn't know what Jack wanted. Hell, Jack didn't even know what he wanted.  
  
"Come on, let's go for a walk."  
  
This time he wasn't planning on making a circle of the camp. Jack stopped just long enough to grab his canteen and weapon, and then he and Jaffer headed the same direction that Jaffer and he had been looking when he saw the hand. Then they headed off into the forest (or jungle... Jack wasn't really sure what was the difference)  
  
.................  
  
The bright sunlight that bathed the ruins so liberally didn't penetrate the thick treetops of the forest so readily, which made the floor of the jungle seem later in the day because it was darker than it had been out in the open. It wasn't so dark that they couldn't see what was going on around them, though, although the further they walked into the woods, the denser the trees and brush became.  
  
They crossed the stream a couple times – or maybe different streams – Jack wasn't sure, and went through a couple of small clearings, but even after almost an hour of walking, they still hadn't seen anything odd. Jaffer was ranging out ahead of O'Neill, his nose everywhere as he tracked various small creatures, and flushed game for Jack like he had the day before. The lab was thoroughly enjoying this hike, and Jack was enjoying it just because Jaffer was. However, he was also getting hot and sweaty, even though it was a lot cooler in the trees than it was in the clearings, and he figured it was about time to call it a day and head back.  
  
Then Jaffer came across the kill.  
  
The big dog's nose led him right to it, and his obvious interest in whatever was hidden in the brush was enough to draw Jack over to see what it was.  
  
"What do you have, Jaffer?" He asked, bringing his rifle up to bear, just in case. Who knew, after all? Jaffer wagged his tail, his nose buried in the brush.  
  
Jack moved the brush aside, and grimaced. Jaffer had found a very dead, very ripped up creature that Jack was pretty sure was one of the deer-like things they'd seen the day before. Someone or something had been eating it, and doing a messy job of it, and the kill looked pretty fresh, if O'Neill was much of a judge of such things.  
  
"Ick..." He reached down and touched Jaffer's rump; when the dog was that distracted, it took a little reminding that he was there and was supposed to be paid attention to. "Come on, Jaffer. We don't want that."  
  
Jaffer wasn't so sure. It smelled like raw burgers to him, and he loved meat! He looked up at Jack, as if to ask him if he was sure that he didn't want any of it, but Jack was already moving away, looking around for whatever – or whoever – had done the killing. He didn't see any floating hands, or anything else, though, and Jaffer was so distracted by the dead creature that the black lab's nose and ears completely missed all the warning signs that Jack wouldn't have caught.  
  
.......................  
  
The creatures were large – about twice the size of Jaffer, although they looked nothing like the dog. Lounging in the trees above their fresh kill, guarding it until they'd digested enough of what they'd already eaten so they could gorge again, they were deadly killers. Vaguely feline, with tawny colored fur blotted by darker patches that gave them wonderfully complex camouflaging which worked extremely well, huge feet that had long claws – for climbing and for killing – powerful jaws, and large dark eyes that glared down with malice at the creatures that dared to go near the kill they'd made.  
  
They moved stealthily, and Jack didn't hear them as the four creatures changed positions from lounging indolence to identical crouches, bodies tense as they sized up their opponents and chose their targets. Jaffer still might have given warning and Jack might have been able to bring his P- 90 up and stopped the attack before it began, except that the dog turned his head once more to the kill, just to take a final sniff before leaving it to follow Jack, and the creatures took it as a sign that he was going to start eating, and with a snarl the leader of the small pack sprang at Jaffer while the others came down from their branches and landed on Jack.  
  
O'Neill felt the attack coming the same way he'd felt the hand close to him, and instinctively turned. Just in time to see three huge creatures coming down on him, claws flashing, and teeth impossibly large. He heard a yelp of surprise – or pain – from Jaffer, and had time to fire one shot, which was incredibly lucky, and managed to hit one of his attackers, and then he went down in a heap, struggling to bring his weapon to bear again, even as he felt something incredibly sharp tear through the sleeve of his light jacket, and felt something else bite down hard on the Kevlar vest he was wearing. 


	11. 11

Author's note: Yeah, I know it's not really a rifle, but I didn't want to say 'machine gun' because I thought it sounded a little mobster-ish.  
  
..................  
  
"What was that?"  
  
Daniel's head came up at the sound of the single gunshot, just like Sam and Teal'c's did. All three of them knew instantly what it was, and they were all on their feet instantly, Teal'c reaching for his staff weapon, and Sam and Daniel reaching down for their sidearms, looking in the direction of the shot as though expecting a Jaffa army to come rushing out of the trees at them with a running O'Neill in the front being chased.  
  
It didn't happen.  
  
"O'Neill is in trouble," Teal'c decided, setting off in the general direction of the sound of the shot – although unless there were more, he'd have trouble locating it exactly, considering the distance it had sounded from. Sam and Daniel were right behind him, and it was a credit to Daniel's concern that he didn't even turn around for a final look at the bark chips that were tumbled to the ground when he'd stood up. Those were just glyphs, after all, and that was nothing when compared to one of his friends needing him.  
  
They stopped just long enough to grab up a first aid kit – just in case! – and to get more firepower for Sam and Daniel, then took off into the forest at a run.  
  
.....................  
  
Like Jack, Jaffer had felt the attack coming right before it actually hit. An instinct in the black lab that was long buried over generations of domestication suddenly emerged in that instant, and he turned, just in time to see the large creature coming down out of the trees on him. He met the attack with a snarl of his own that was far deeper than the piercing cry of the cat, and the two creatures – one tawny and one black – tumbled to the ground in a noisy, vicious ball of fur, teeth and claws.  
  
Jaffer yelped when the initial attack brought a claw into his side, but he was far from out of things, and his teeth flashed as he raked the feline's neck, instinctively going for a killing bite. The cat dodged before Jaffer could get the killing bite, but his sharp teeth scored, and blood flowed freely.  
  
The feline was out of its own comfort zone. On this planet, she and the ones in her pack (and others like them) were the premier hunters. Sitting at the top of the food chain with no natural enemies, they'd grown accustomed to things dying when they attacked them, or things running from them. This large black creature wasn't doing either, and it had just caused her pain on her neck, which she definitely didn't like. She rolled to the side, away from the sharp teeth, and came to her feet, facing Jaffer, who had taken the opportunity to regain his own feet, his head low, his hackles up and making him look even larger and more impressive than he already was.  
  
The cat yowled, trying to scare him off, but she was between him and the pile of struggling bodies that included Jack, and there was no way Jaffer was going to go anywhere but through her. He heard O'Neill give a sharp cry of pain, and Jaffer snarled, desperate to get to Jack's side, but knowing instinctively he couldn't get past the cat without killing her so she wouldn't come up behind him.  
  
He launched himself at her, and at the same time, she launched herself at him, her claws extended and his teeth flashing.  
  
"_De'hedrial_ _Ja-fer_!"  
  
A spear came hurtling past him and struck the cat even before Jaffer did. He crashed into the creature, his jaws locking on her throat, but she was already dying, run through by a spear that had come out of nowhere.  
  
"Jaffer!"  
  
Jack's cry was filled with pain, and worse, hopelessness. He'd lost his gun when he'd been bowled over by the remaining two felines, and he couldn't get to his Beretta or his knife. He had his arms wrapped firmly around the neck of one of the creatures attacking him and was trying to dodge its claws and teeth and at the same time use it as shield against the other attacking cat. He knew he wasn't going to get out of this one, though. It was only a matter of time before one of the two cats landed a telling blow and knocked him free of the one he had hold of. Then it'd be pretty quick, and he'd probably look like that deer Jaffer had found.  
  
"Run, Jaffer!"  
  
He wasn't thinking of sending Jaffer for help, he knew better. He was just hoping to get his baby clear of the fight where he'd be safe. He knew, though, even as he yelled it, that Jaffer wouldn't run away from Jack any more than Jack would have run away from Jaffer. They were both going to be killed.  
  
Jack felt claws rake across his back, blocked mostly by the vest he wore, although one went a little low and what felt like a razor scored across his lower back, causing him to yelp once more, and he jerked hard on the creature he was holding, hoping to unbalance it.  
  
Then Jaffer was there, diving into the fray completely to land on the back of the cat that was trying to get to Jack through its pack-mate, his weight combining with Jack's motion and sending all four of them – human, felines and dog – all to the ground once more.  
  
"_Ja-fer_! _Whij'lish ahf alehid_!"  
  
Jack heard the voice, but didn't understand it. He thought he heard Jaffer's name, but he was a little too busy to go back over what had been said, and he certainly didn't have time to take a look to see where it was coming from.  
  
Out of nowhere, a spear came thrusting into the middle of the fight, expertly jabbed by a tanned hand and nothing else, and caught one of the felines in the right flank. The cat screamed, and turned on the stick that dared poke it, claws raking out to lash at the hand, but the hand vanished in an instant and the claws went whistling through the air. A moment later the hand was solid once more – the spear had never been anything but – and again the pointed end of the stick jabbed at the cat, although this time there was more than one, and there was a babble of angry, excited voices accompanying it. The cat screamed again, and this time so did its pack- mate. Both had been hit by the spears, and one had had its side slashed open by Jaffer's sharp teeth.  
  
Again the cats lashed out at the hands that held the spears, and again the hands vanished before any damage could be done and reappeared moments later. If they'd only been fighting Jaffer and Jack, it would have been no contest. The cats would have won in minutes. As it was, though, even the angry felines knew they were in a battle they couldn't win, and they screamed once more in anger and fear and broke off the attack, bolting to the safety of the thick brush.  
  
Bleeding and dazed, Jack forced his head around to watch the cats run, then lay still where he was sprawled, unable to move. He turned his head once more to look for Jaffer, had a glimpse of the black lab standing – thank God! – and was positive he saw five or six floating hands around him and the black lab, some holding spears, some reaching out to touch him, or Jaffer. He felt one rolling him over, and thought he heard a voice mutter something in some language he didn't understand, but he didn't hear anymore.  
  
He passed out. 


	12. 12

"Colonel!"  
  
She was worried. When she worried like that, Sam tended to slip back into the old and formal without even realizing it. It was something of a safety net for her. The three of them were running blind, really. She, Teal'c and Daniel had no clue where to go, only a vague direction from a shot they'd heard more than half an hour ago.  
  
Had they been thinking and not so worried when they'd taken off, they could have tracked Jack and Jaffer's progress from the camp by following their footprints and trail. Teal'c was an exceptional tracker, after all. Of course, they'd simply taken off. In their concern they'd been certain they'd find him quickly – probably hauling ass back to camp with a group of baddies on his tail. But there hadn't been a sign of Jack or Jaffer, and although they'd looked, they hadn't managed to cut their trail, either.  
  
"Jack!"  
  
Daniel's voice called out in a masculine echo of Sam's.  
  
"We're never going to find them like this," Carter said, shaking her head.  
  
"We should return to the camp and find their trail and follow it," Teal'c said. He agreed with Sam; they were looking for a needle in a haystack, to use one of O'Neill's favorite sayings.  
  
"That'll take too long," Daniel complained. "What if he needs us, now?"  
  
"We're not doing him any good wandering around out here blindly," Sam said, although she agreed completely. It would take far longer than she wanted to take. "We'd better do it. I want to find him – them – before dark."  
  
It was only early afternoon, but she was thinking about how much darker it was in the trees.  
  
Teal'c nodded his agreement, and the three of them turned and headed back for camp, still looking for a trail or any sign of O'Neill, and still calling for him. Hopefully even if Jack didn't hear them, Jaffer would and would come find them.  
  
..................  
  
A soft whine broke through the silence around him. A whine that Jack knew anywhere, although he didn't hear it all that often. Before he was even awake and aware that he was conscious, his eyes were open and he was trying to sit up, turning his head toward the sound, looking for Jaffer to see what was wrong.  
  
"Ahhh..." He grunted with pain, and the soreness brought him awake enough that he remembered what had happened. He looked at Jaffer, who was sitting nearby, watching him. The black lab stood up when Jack sat up, and he walked over and stuck his nose in Jack's face, snorting softly as he made sure he hadn't taken any lasting harm. Jack grimaced, and stroked the silky face while he looked around him, trying to figure out what had happened, and how long he'd been out.  
  
Jaffer was bandaged, he noticed that immediately. Not in any kind of bandage Jack had ever seen before – they looked like some kind of big leaf all tied or woven together – but it was obvious that they'd been wrapped around the dog's belly and chest for a reason, and the only reason Jack could think of was to be used as a bandage. There were a few small scratches on Jaffer that hadn't been bandaged, either because of the awkward location, or because they weren't deep enough to warrant a bandage. These had been smeared with some kind of substance that looked like... petroleum jelly, maybe, but smelled really good. He looked down at himself, and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt or his vest, and he, too, was wrapped with the odd bandages.  
  
Running his hand along his side, feeling the bandage and the ache under it – that his memory told him should be a lot worse than it actually was – Jack tried to think back to the attack and what had happened.  
  
"What the hell were those things?" He asked Jaffer, running his fingers along the dog's sides as well, watching for any discomfort. He didn't want to take the bandages off until he had a chance to get the two of them back to camp where they could be checked over more carefully. Whether he was talking about the felines, or about the floating hands that had definitely saved their lives, Jaffer didn't know, and neither did Jack.  
  
The big black lab wagged his tail and leaned his head down to lick Jack's hand, and Jack hugged him close for a minute, still feeling just a little out of sorts.  
  
His shirt was with his vest, and both were close at hand. Resting on it was his canteen and his P-90. There was also an odd-looking bowl that appeared to be empty, and next to that was a spear, which was basically a long, straight stick with a burnt and sharpened point on it. Enough of a point to save his life, though, Jack knew.  
  
He reached over and picked up the canteen, and found it was full. It'd been mostly empty when he'd decided to turn back, which meant that someone – or something – and most likely the floating hands and whatever was attached to them, had filled it for him. He took a long drink, gratefully, knowing that if they'd meant him any harm they could have done pretty much anything to him while he'd been unconscious. For that matter, they could have just let the cats finish him off.  
  
"You thirsty, little man?" Jack asked, pouring a little water into his hand and holding it out to Jaffer. The lab nosed it – hoping it was really chocolate syrup or something else he wasn't really supposed to have, but he turned his nose up when he found it was water. He wasn't thirsty; he'd just had a good long drink. Which was why the odd-looking bowl was empty.  
  
Jack smiled and took another drink, then sighed. He was going to have to get up and he really wasn't looking forward to the long hike back to camp. The others were probably getting pretty worried by now, since it was getting a little late. Not so late he was worried about being caught out here in the dark – for one thing, he could use Jaffer to help him get back to camp, and for another, he had a good sense of direction and knew he'd be able to find it – but he didn't want to stick around if anymore of those cats showed up.  
  
He looked around once more before standing up, taking in things he hadn't noticed before. He saw bloodstains on the grass and gouged out tufts of grass where claws, boots or paws had been struggling for purchase. Obviously this was the same place they'd been attacked, although there was no sign of attackers or saviors. The attackers he could do without. The saviors he'd at least like a chance to thank.  
  
Moving carefully, Jack put his shirt on, wincing when the cloth rubbed against the back of his neck. He put his hand up to the sore spot and found it was smeared, probably with the same substance that Jaffer's cuts were smeared with. Someone had obviously doctored him and his dog up as well as they could before leaving them. He put his vest on, too, more so that he wouldn't have to carry it, and then picked up his P-90. Looking down at the bowl and the spear, he picked them up as well. He'd eventually return them to their owners, and until then, maybe Daniel could figure out who – or what – they were dealing with by examining them.  
  
Calling Jaffer to his side, Jack looked at the compass attached to his watch to make sure he was going the right direction, then walked out of the clearing and into the forest, heading back to camp.  
  
Behind him, he never saw the figures that formed out of nowhere, their dark eyes watching his progress with satisfaction for a long moment before turning and vanishing once more into the air. 


	13. 13

Author's Note: Yeah, I know not everyone likes this story. I don't write a lot of off-world stuff, and people have become accustomed to the daily lives of Sam, Jack and the others. This time I wanted to write them working. So if it's not your cup of tea, then just bear with me, and I hope you'll read along anyways, just for the story value. If not, just wait until the next story comes along, I suppose : )  
  
.............  
  
They didn't find Jack. Jaffer found them.  
  
Sam, Daniel and Teal'c had gone back to camp and the Jaffa had cut Jack and Jaffer's trail leading out easily, even though he had to take a moment to decide which was the track from that morning and which was from the walk Jack and Jaffer had taken the day before. Then, with Teal'c leading the way, they'd moved out, this time making good time and going in the right direction.  
  
They'd been walking at a steady clip for almost half an hour when a rustling in the brush ahead of them drew all their attention. The forest had been relatively quiet during their search – aside from their occasional calls for Jack – so the sudden noise brought all their weapons up. Then Jaffer's black head came out of the brush, followed by the rest of him, and the black lab rushed happily over to Sam.  
  
Carter knelt down to meet Jaffer, and immediately saw the cuts and makeshift bandages. She ran her hand over his black hide, and frowned when she ended up smeared with the substance that had been spread on his open cuts.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"He appears to have been injured," Teal'c said, looking down at the dog, but then looking around, immediately watching for whatever it was that might have hurt the lab.  
  
"And taken care of..." Daniel murmured, leaning down and touching the bandages, frowning as well. "What kind of bandage is that?"  
  
"I suppose Jack improvised..." Sam said, standing up and looking around. Where Jaffer was, O'Neill had to be, too. Unless something had gone wrong, and Sam didn't want to think about that. She looked down at Jaffer. "Where's Jack, Jaffer? Find him for us, will you?"  
  
Of course he would! Jaffer wagged his tail, and headed back into the brush, looking over his shoulder to make sure they were coming. They only walked for a few moments before they came to a small clearing, and Sam saw Jack sprawled on the ground, not moving.  
  
"Jack..." She rushed over, followed by Teal'c and Daniel, and knelt down next to the fallen Colonel.  
  
"Relax, Sam..." His voice was soft, but steady, and he didn't sound like he was in too much pain. "I'm fine."  
  
He was, too. Well, maybe not perfectly fine, but he hadn't collapsed. He'd just decided he'd needed a rest, and the soft grass had looked far more comfortable than resting his scratched back against the trunk of a tree. Walking wasn't so bad, but sweating was painful when your shirt was rubbing salt into an open wound, no matter how much salve was smeared on it.  
  
"What happened?" Carter asked, reaching down and pulling the collar of his shirt back from the back of his neck. A set of four parallel scratches were running along the back of his neck and down under his shirt. It was covered with something slimy looking, and looked red and painful – although thankfully not life-threatening.  
  
"Help me up, and I'll tell you all about it on the way back to camp," Jack said, getting his knees under himself and pulling himself upright so she and Teal'c could get hold of his arms and help him to his feet.  
  
"What's this?" Daniel asked, reaching down and picking up the bowl that was lying on the ground next to were Jack had been.  
  
"That, I think, belongs to the floating hand people..."  
  
"What?"  
  
Jack pointed at the spear on the ground, and told Daniel to pick that up as well. That one, he _knew_, belonged to the floating hand people. He'd seen the hand holding it.  
  
"Come on," Jack said, draping an arm over Teal'c's broad shoulder, glad to have the support. "I want to get back to camp."  
  
"We should probably get you back to the Stargate..." Sam said, noticing that his shirt was shredded below the Kevlar vest. She wondered if he had been cut there as well.  
  
"Not a chance," Jack told her as they started walking, Jaffer falling in on O'Neill's other side. "There's a lot more to this planet than meets the eye, and I want to know more about it. You wouldn't believe some of the crazy shit I've seen today."  
  
With that as an introduction, he started telling them about the attack.  
  
..........................  
  
"So these people came to your rescue?"  
  
Jack nodded, but then shrugged. "I'm sure they saved us. I'm not positive they're people. I haven't seen more than a hand, although I did hear voices."  
  
"Hearing voices isn't always a good thing, Jack..." Daniel told him, smiling slightly. He looked down at the spear in his hand, though, and shook his head. "This is a very primitive weapon. There's no metal involved in the making of it – it's basically a stick with a point on the end."  
  
"It worked..."  
  
"Well, yes... even primitive weapons can be effective," Daniel conceded. "You say these hands people left the bowl and the spear?"  
  
"I'm assuming they did," Jack corrected, wearily. "I wasn't actually awake when they left, but they were sitting on my shirt and vest, and it was pretty apparent that they left them. Unless there's other people running around this crazy place, too."  
  
"Leaving the spear makes sense," Daniel said, still speculating.  
  
"How so?" Teal'c asked.  
  
"If they were looking out for Jack's best interest – and obviously by bandaging him and Jaffer, they were – then they would also have wanted to leave him a means to defend himself. The spear."  
  
"But I had my gun-"  
  
"Look how well that worked."  
  
Jack scowled.  
  
"And the bowl?" Sam asked.  
  
"Water for Jaffer," Jack answered, before Daniel could think of a reply. "He wasn't thirsty when I tried to give him a drink, so he probably had some water in the bowl. It was wet, now that I think of it."  
  
"It's woven out of grasses," Daniel said, studying it carefully. "The problem is, lots of cultures made spears with sticks and wove grass into bowls, so I still don't have a clue what we're dealing with."  
  
"There can't be that many people out there with no bodies," Jack said; glad to see their camp was coming into view. He was tired of walking, and tired of talking. He just wanted to soak away his aches, and get something to eat. "How are you coming with the translations?" The sooner they knew what the writing on the walls said, the sooner they might understand the folks around them.  
  
"I'm almost done with the chips. I was hoping to get them done today, but... well, we were sidetracked."  
  
"Just get it done as soon as you can, Daniel," Jack said. "Carter. Teal'c. You two help him."  
  
"What about you?" Sam asked. She wanted to stick around and make sure Jack was really okay, and ascertain if they should take him back to Earth to get his injuries looked at.  
  
"Jaffer and I are going to get some food, and then I'm going to soak away some dust. He'll probably sleep." 


	14. 14

Thanks you guys, for that affirmation and the kind words! Sorry this one was so slow getting out, but my twin nephews graduated today, and I had to be there. : P  
  
...............  
  
That's exactly what they did. He waited until the three of them (Daniel, Sam and Teal'c) had returned to the ruined walls and Daniel's translations, then he fed Jaffer and made a meal of an MRE. After that, he and his dog went to the stream, where the water was running cold and clear, and Jack took the leafy bandages of Jaffer and checked him out.  
  
The lab's scratches were nasty, but they were already starting to heal over, and Jack wondered what was in the goo the floating hand people had used on the two of them. His own scratches were also deep and painful, but he had a feeling they'd be a lot worse if not for the doctoring he'd received while he was unconscious. The ones on the back of his neck and his lower back were the least serious of his – as near as he could tell by using a mirror to look – but they were the most painful, so he wondered if maybe the bandages had something to do with the healing as well. Of course, he wasn't a doctor, so he could have been wrong.  
  
"We're going to have to come up with a better name for these people than '_floating hands people_'," Jack said to Jaffer as he stripped out of his battered and shredded clothing and slipped into the cool water to soak for a while. It felt wonderful, and the coolness of the water eased his aches – or numbed him to them. Either way, it was a relief.  
  
Jaffer strolled to the edge of the water and took a drink, but he didn't get in. He liked the water and all, but he was all for a nap, and you can't nap in water up to your eyebrows. He found a spot that was grassy and in the shade, but close enough to the edge of the water so that he could keep an eye on Jack and make sure that nothing else injured him while he was in the water.  
  
Jack leaned back against the bank, wincing when he scraped the scratches on his lower back, but ignoring it as well as he could. The water was nice enough to stay in a while; the sun was still warm although it was definitely getting lower in the sky. He closed his eyes and tried to relax.  
  
.....................  
  
It was almost dark by the time they finished the translating of the chips. The work was going faster, because of a growing familiarity that Sam and Teal'c were getting with the style of the glyphs. This made finding the picture that Daniel sent them after that much faster, and with the two of them working so willingly, the archeologist actually found himself working faster to keep up with them so they'd have something to help him with.  
  
"That's the last of them," He said in triumph, stuffing the final chip back into the bag they'd come out of.  
  
"So tomorrow you can start trying to read the walls?" Carter asked.  
  
He nodded, and stretched.  
  
"I'd do it tonight, but I'm ready for a break."  
  
He had to be tired, then, Sam thought, hiding her amused smile. Otherwise he never would have admitted the need for a rest.  
  
"Well, let's get something to eat and make an early night of it." She was anxious to check on Jack, anyways.  
  
The three of them headed back to camp, and found that Jack hadn't spent his entire afternoon resting. A hearty meal was simmering in their large cooking pot. Stew, from the smell of it, and there were rolls wrapped in tinfoil and tucked into the warm ashes of the fire to keep warm. He'd even set out their dishes for them. But he and Jaffer weren't sitting by the fire.  
  
"Jack?"  
  
"In here."  
  
The voice came from his tent, and Sam walked over and knelt at the opening, turning aide the flap. He was stretched out on his blankets, on his belly. With no shirt on, she could clearly see the deep scratches that plainly looked like they'd come from a cat of some kind, and they looked red and painful, but not as red as before. Jaffer's tail was wagging as he stood up and ambled over to greet her, and Sam saw that Jack had rebandaged the black lab.  
  
"How do you feel?"  
  
"I'm fine, Sam," he told her, propping himself up on his elbows. "Just a little sore."  
  
"Want me to put some antibiotic cream on those cuts?"  
  
"Yeah, but not until later. Go ahead and get something to eat."  
  
"Are you eating?"  
  
"I already did." Jack pointed at his tin plate, which was wiped clean – almost certainly licked clean, she was sure. "How's the translating thing going?"  
  
"We're done with the bark pieces." She told him, stretching out next to him, but carefully not touching him. "Daniel said he'd start on the walls tomorrow."  
  
"Good." Jack smiled and leaned against her, just for a moment. "Make sure he eats, okay?"  
  
"Of course." She ran her hand along his jaw, which was stubbly and in need of a shave. "Are you up for standing watch tonight? Teal'c and I can cover for you if you want to just sleep."  
  
"I'm fine," He repeated, closing his eyes at her touch, even though it was hardly an erotic one. He just loved having her touch him. "Set me for the last one, and don't forget to wake me." Meaning '_don't ignore my request and leave me to sleep all night, even though I just did it for you'_.  
  
"Okay." She looked at his back once more, and winced. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"  
  
"I'm fine. Go get something to eat and get some rest." Knowing that she wouldn't leave him alone if he looked miserable, Jack kissed her gently and smiled. "I'm going to get some sleep."  
  
"I'll leave you alone, then."  
  
"Okay." He watched as she stood up – he loved watching her, after all – and she picked up his plate. "Don't forget to wake me for my watch."  
  
"I won't."  
  
She closed his tent, and Jaffer plopped back down in his spot next to Jack's side, his big head resting on O'Neill's lower back since the thigh he normally would have used for a pillow wasn't available. The two of them drifted off as they listened to the sound of the others eating their meal, then cleaning up, and finally heading off to bed themselves. Eventually, Jack fell asleep as well. 


	15. 15

It was Teal'c who woke Jack up for the last watch of the night. The Jaffa had told Carter he would take the mid watch since he'd had the early watch the night before. Sam assumed that Teal'c was simply doing what Jack would have done if he'd been awake and feeling better; namely coddling her just a little by making sure she didn't have to sleep, then wake, then sleep again as she would have if she'd had the mid watch.  
  
That was part of it, of course. Teal'c was as protective of the other members of SG-1 as Jack was, although he wasn't always as obvious about it. Where Jack was domineering in his mothering, Teal'c was a lot quieter, although no less sincere. He truly liked the humans he'd allied himself with, and over the years had found little ways to make that known without trumpeting it about. Another reason he took the mid watch, though, was so he could see how Jack looked when he woke up. If O'Neill was really hurting, Teal'c could use the private moment to convince his friend that they should go back to Earth and return when he was feeling better.  
  
Jack woke fairly quickly, though, and only with a little stiffness and groans. While it was obvious from the cuts Teal'c's sharp eyes could make out on his back and chest that he was injured, the gashes caused by the creatures weren't life-threatening, and weren't enough to slow him down too noticeably. Teal'c was satisfied by this, and headed to his tent content that Jack (and Jaffer) were both going to be fine, and didn't need him to mother hen them, as Carter called it.  
  
Jack debated whether he wanted to put a shirt on as he headed to the fire and poured himself a cup of coffee. The night wasn't all that cold, but it wasn't really all that warm out, either. The problem, though, was that his shirts were rubbing just right against the cuts, and it was pretty much beyond uncomfortable. He decided to go without for the moment, until it became so cold that he was more cold than he was uncomfortable, then he'd put one on. He did, however, pick up the belt that held his holster and Beretta and slung it around his waist. He'd pretty much decided after his watch and his walks that the most dangerous thing on the planet were the felines, and he had no intention of ever letting one of them sneak up on him again. In a fair fight, he knew his Beretta could take them down just as well as a P-90. (a _fair_ fight being one he could win, as opposed to being jumped on from behind)  
  
He stretched, finished his coffee, and then headed out of the light of the dying fire so he could gain some night vision. With Jaffer beside him – and not distracted by a dead creature – there wasn't much that could sneak up on the two of them once he had the glare of the fire out of his eyes. And then, of course, something did.  
  
He didn't see the man materialize. Had he been looking, he would have seen empty air one moment, and a man standing there the next, but Jack was looking the wrong direction, since the man had decided that it would be safer to not materialize right in front of him and startle him, and not even Jaffer's acute senses caught the scent of the man until he was completely solid.  
  
"_Sihla'sitde Ja-fer_?"  
  
Jack whirled when he heard the voice behind him, his hand going to the gun at his side. Jaffer turned as well, hackles raised from surprise, although he didn't growl. He saved growling for important occasions. The man phased out slightly when he saw Jack's initial reaction, but he didn't vanish completely, and O'Neill realized immediately that he was finally seeing one of the floating hand people. His hand moved from the butt of his gun, and he held them both up so the man could see he wasn't holding a weapon.  
  
The man was small and wiry, and dressed in very little. A cloth around his waist that was brightly colored with reds and yellows, and an equally colorful sash across his chest. He had a pouch made of some kind of leather hanging from the belt that was holding his cloth skirt – or whatever it was called – on.  
  
"_Sihla'sitde Ja-fer_?" The man repeated, solidifying once more, and pointing at the black lab beside Jack, who had relaxed as soon he saw Jack relaxing.  
  
"Jaffer?" Jack repeated, unsure what the guy was saying, except for the word that sure sounded like his dog's name.  
  
"_Sah_."  
  
Uh huh. Jack looked around, wishing Daniel would suddenly wake up and get his butt out here and talk to this guy.  
  
"Jaffer." Jack said, pointing at the dog.  
  
The man nodded, then pointed at his chest.  
  
"_Y'soa_."  
  
Was that his name? Or what he was?  
  
"Yesoa?" Jack asked, pointing at the man.  
  
"_Sah_."  
  
"Jack." He pointed at his own bare chest. "Jack."  
  
"_Ja-ck_."  
  
"Yeah. Um, _sah_." When in Rome, after all...  
  
The man nodded.  
  
"So..." Jack looked around. There really wasn't much he could say. "You... um... live around here?"  
  
"_Di'shafri digyl gibsa_."  
  
"That's a no?"  
  
The two men stared at each other.  
  
"Hey, thanks for the assist, today." Jack said, pointing at the scratches on his chest. "We were in a world of hurt, and you and your friends couldn't have come along at a better time."  
  
"_He'skfi fis la chidheq_." The man pointed at Jack's chest again, but this time O'Neill was pretty sure he was pointing at the cuts.  
  
"Um..." Jack shrugged. He didn't have a clue what the guy was saying, and didn't want to say something wrong. Unlike most of the people Jack met on other planets, he actually thought he'd like these folks if he could get to know them a little. Of course, that might have something to do with them saving his life and all.  
  
"_Ja-ack? He'skfi_?"  
  
The man untied the pouch from his waist and handed it over to Jack, who took it from him, hesitantly. Not that he expected it to be filled with poisonous spiders or anything. He just didn't get gifts from people who materialized out of nowhere every day, after all. It turned out it was filled with the salve that he and Jaffer had been smeared with earlier. It still smelled good.  
  
"Thank you." Jack smiled, wishing once more for Daniel.  
  
Y'soa smiled as well, and pointed at Jack's chest, and Jaffer's scratches, obviously telling him that he should use it on them, and Jack nodded, wondering if he should give the man something in return. All he had on him, though, was his Beretta, and there was no way he was giving that away. Friendly or not.  
  
"_Ja-ack. Dr'iserf al lidut Ja-fer_."  
  
With that – whatever it was – the man smiled and disappeared, leaving Jack and Jaffer both staring at the spot in disbelief. 


	16. 16

"You're shitting me..."  
  
It was a few minutes after Y'soa had made his farewell and vanished, and Jack had immediately woken up the others, knowing that even though he didn't have a clue what the two of them had discussed during their unintelligible conversation it was probably something Daniel should know about.  
  
Jack shook his head, grinning despite himself. Daniel rarely swore like that, and it was fun when he did. Especially when he caught a glimpse of Teal'c's reaction to that statement.  
  
"Nope. He popped in out of nowhere behind me and Jaffer, stopped long enough to introduce himself and babble at me for a minute, gave me this bag of... stuff... and then popped out of sight – right in front of me, thank you very much."  
  
"Wow." Sam was looking in the bag, and had scooped a small amount of the salve. "This is the balm that was smeared on you and Jaffer?"  
  
"It looks the same, and smells the same."  
  
"It is most likely the same, then," Teal'c said.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"What did he say to you?" Daniel asked.  
  
"He babbled, Daniel." Jack said, shrugging.  
  
"Try to remember at least some of it, Jack. Please?"  
  
Jack scowled.  
  
"It was babbling, Daniel. It didn't make any sense to me. He said Jaffer's name, and it hardly sounded like it. When he said my name it had more than one syllable. It sounded like 'Ja-ack', or something like that."  
  
Daniel was staring at him, frustrated, and Jack felt sorry for him. As much as he had wished Daniel had been there during his talk with Y'soa, he knew Daniel wished it even more.  
  
"His name is Y'soa." Jack said, giving him the only piece of information he really knew. "I think."  
  
"Y'soa?"  
  
Jack shrugged, "I think... something like that, anyways. Hopefully we can get him to come for another visit."  
  
"These people seem to be shy," Teal'c said. "They have yet to show themselves to anyone except for yourself and Jaffer."  
  
"I think they like Jaffer," Jack said, remembering the way he'd heard the little girl voice and saw the hand petting his dog. He shrugged, "Maybe we can use that to our advantage."  
  
"How?" Sam asked.  
  
"They have to materialize in order to pet Jaffer. When they materialize, we can see them, and hopefully Daniel will be able to talk to them. Or at least do a better job than I did."  
  
"I'm sure you did the best you could," Sam said, smiling. She wished she could have been there, too, if only to see Jack trying to have a conversation with someone babbling at him.  
  
"Yeah." Jack shrugged again and looked at the others. It was still early – there were a few more hours before the sun was going to come up, but he was certain Daniel wasn't going to go back to bed. "Why don't you and Teal'c go back to bed? I'll keep watch, while Daniel gets started on the walls. Hopefully, he can learn something about these people, and even better, maybe one of them will come back and chat with us again."  
  
"I shall remain with Daniel Jackson, O'Neill." Teal'c decided. He was rather hoping that one of the natives would make an appearance.  
  
"I'm not tired, either," Sam said. She was awake, now, and it didn't make much sense to try and get back to sleep.  
  
Jack shrugged. They were grownups, and didn't need his permission to stay up. He took the bag of salve from her, and put it to his nose again, enjoying the smell.  
  
"I'm going to doctor Jaffer."  
  
"Want me to do you?" Carter asked.  
  
He grinned, and Carter rolled her eyes.  
  
"You know what I mean."  
  
"Yeah, I know," Jack said. But it was so much fun to tease her! "And yes, if you'd do me, I'd appreciate it."  
  
They watched as Teal'c and Daniel headed back to the ruins, Teal'c carrying his staff weapon in one hand and a couple of lanterns in the other, and Daniel carrying the folder of notes he'd taken on the bark chips. Then Sam took the bag of salve back from O'Neill, and ordered him to take a seat near the fire so she could take care of the scratches. Jaffer came over and sat next to Jack, and O'Neill rubbed his face and ears while Carter's gentle fingers massaged the scented salve into the deep cuts on his neck and lower back.  
  
Then she sat and chatted with him while Jack used the same salve on Jaffer's cuts – which were already looking far less red and nasty than they had earlier that day.  
  
"This stuff really seems to work," Jack murmured, looking at his fingers while Sam wrapped bandages around Jaffer's belly for him.  
  
"We'll have to let Janet take a look at it."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
He stood up and went to his tent and pulled out a shirt. The air was getting pretty chilly, and the salve just made him that much colder.  
  
"We might as well make breakfast, since no one's going to go back to bed."  
  
"Daniel won't want to stop to eat."  
  
"Too bad."  
  
She smiled and shook her head, then reached for their cooking skillet. Since they had nothing but time, they might as well make something better than MREs.  
  
...................  
  
Author's note: We'll probably learn something about the floating hand people in the next chapter... if not then the one after! 


	17. 17

Daniel Jackson was a genius. Yeah, he was pretty modest about it (most times) but when it came to his fields of studies – archeology and languages – he was as much a genius as Samantha Carter was in her own. Maybe even more. As he'd been translating the bark chips from Mayan to the other language – or glyphs, or whatever they were – his agile mind had already begun learning the symbols. Not all of them, of course, but a fair number of them were already familiar to him before he and Teal'c even walked over to the ruined walls to decide where to start.  
  
"Shine your flashlight over here, will ya, Teal'c?"  
  
He pointed with his own, and Teal'c added more light when he complied. It was as good a place as any to begin. There weren't as many crumbled areas, which meant that he wouldn't have so many blanks to try and fill in when it came to trying to figure out what was being expressed.  
  
"This will work..." He smiled excitedly and took the lanterns from Teal'c, placing them at the best places to give him the most light, and then he picked up his notebook, turned to a blank page, and plopped down on the ruined floor next to the wall and got started.  
  
Knowing there was very little he could do to help, Teal'c simply stood close by, his flashlight shining on the wall near Daniel, and his other hand holding his staff weapon while he stood guard over his friend – who was already lost in his work.  
  
...................  
  
"Have you found out anything so far?" Jack asked about an hour later. He and Sam had just arrived at the ruins with Jaffer padding silently between them, and a couple covered plates of bacon and eggs in their hands.  
  
"Not too much, yet," Daniel said, absently. He was only paying a little attention to Jack; most of his mind was still on the wall, and his notes.  
  
"We brought you guys some breakfast."  
  
"No thanks, Sam, I'm not hungry."  
  
"Daniel..."  
  
"Jack... I'm busy."  
  
"You can take the time to eat."  
  
"Jack..."  
  
"Daniel..."  
  
Daniel sighed, but Jack ignored the frustrated sound and handed him a plate. Jaffer came over to sit next to Daniel, more than willing to help him with his meal if he really didn't want to eat it all.  
  
"He doesn't get any of it, Daniel."  
  
Daniel scowled, and Sam thought that if dogs could scowl, Jaffer would have scowled as well.  
  
Damn.  
  
"Do you know how important it is that I get this translated?"  
  
"I know you'll think better if you're not hungry."  
  
"That's not true."  
  
"Eat, and we'll see."  
  
He wasn't going to win, and he knew it.  
  
"If I eat, will you leave me alone for the rest of the morning?"  
  
"Probably..."  
  
"Fine."  
  
Daniel took the fork Jack handed him, and Sam grinned as she gave Teal'c his breakfast, reaching out and taking his staff weapon from him so he could eat.  
  
"So... are these people Mayan?"  
  
Daniel looked up at Jack. He never really expressed an interest in any of the cultures they'd come across, so the question was unexpected.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You said the language was Mayan," Jack said, scowling at the odd look he was given by everyone present. "Does that mean they're Mayan?"  
  
"I don't know, yet." He took a bite of his breakfast, and found it was pretty good. Probably worth eating. Sam must have cooked it. "And I'm not going to find out if you keep interrupting me."  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Jack sounded completely unrepentant. "Finish eating and I'll leave you alone.  
  
Daniel shook his head; he knew better. He'd be left alone until Jack got bored – which rarely took long – and then O'Neill would be hovering over his shoulder. Especially since he actually seemed interested in what was being done.  
  
"Sam? Why don't you take him somewhere else? Keep him out of my hair?"  
  
"I'm not in your-"  
  
"Sure, Daniel." Sam grinned at Jack. "Let's go clean up breakfast and leave Daniel alone, shall we?"  
  
"How come Teal'c gets to stay?"  
  
"_He's_ helping."  
  
"I could help."  
  
Daniel sighed. "Go away, Jack. Give me a few hours, at least."  
  
O'Neill was about ready to say something, but Sam set Teal'c's staff weapon against the nearest wall, took hold of his arm, and pulled him away before he could.  
  
"We'll be back for the plates later." Meaning she didn't want him to stop what he was doing to return them.  
  
"Thanks, Sam."  
  
"Have fun, Daniel. Holler if there's anything we can do."  
  
"Or if you see one of the floating hand people." Jack added.  
  
"We're going to have to learn what they're really called," Sam told Jack, as they walked back to the campsite, with Jaffer leading the way this time instead of walking between them. "General Hammond probably wouldn't appreciate us handing in a report with such an unscientific name on it."  
  
"I'll ask them next time I see them," Jack promised. Of course, he wouldn't understand the answer.  
  
They reached the fire, and Jaffer flopped down next to it, his nose sniffing the air around him and his posture showing every sign of being ready to sit there until dawn. O'Neill watched him settle, then looked down at the dishes that were waiting to be washed, and then out into the darkness that was just barely showing signs of the coming day. It'd be daylight in only a couple hours, and since he was fairly certain there wasn't anything out in the woods that was cause for alarm, Jack had other things on his mind besides dishes.  
  
"So..." He reached out and pulled Sam into his arms, loving the way the firelight made her already beautiful eyes sparkle. "Didn't you say something about 'doing' me?"  
  
She laughed, and shook her head.  
  
"I thought I already did."  
  
"I don't remember."  
  
"You sure you're up for that, Jack? You're pretty scratched up."  
  
He decided not to make the obvious reply to how 'up' he was, and instead took her hand and lead her back to his tent. Daniel could play with his wall... Jack would find other – far more interesting ways – to amuse himself, and Sam.  
  
.................  
  
Author's note: Okay, Daniel needed a little more time – even if he is a genius! Next Chapter we'll find out about them! 


	18. 18

Jack and Sam ended up dozing off, and the short nap turned into a slightly longer slumber than either of them expected it to. When Carter next opened her eyes, it was fully daylight outside, and there were noisy birds and other creatures calling to each other as they started their day in the forest nearby. She looked over at Jack, who was still asleep, and then at Jaffer, who had joined them sometime while they'd been sleeping. The black lab woke as soon as Sam moved, which told her he wasn't really all that tired, he was just in there because he liked to use Jack as his own personal pillow whenever the opportunity arose.  
  
Knowing there was no way she was going to be able to get up without waking Jack, Sam nudged him – making sure she avoided his scratched areas.  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"It's morning. Wake up."  
  
"M'kay."  
  
He didn't show any signs of doing what she said, but really, he didn't _have_ to. She didn't need him awake, she just needed up. Sam kissed his neck softly, then slid out from under his blanket and crawled out of the tent. She had things she could do – although she was sorely tempted to go see how Daniel was doing, and knew if she did, she'd only be annoying him.  
  
A cold nose touched her hand, and Sam stroked Jaffer's ears without even looking down at him. Of course, he was big enough now that she didn't have to bend down to do it, either.  
  
"I think a mid-morning snack would do us just fine, don't you, Jaffer?" Sam murmured.  
  
Jaffer wagged his tail. He _certainly_ did!  
  
She went to her tent and dressed quickly, and then rummaged through their supplies and came up with a bag of pepperoni sticks and pretzels. Jaffer watched her intently as she walked over to sit near the dead fire, and when she sat down he went over and joined her, knowing full well that if he turned on the charm, he'd end up with more than half that bag. Everyone teased Jack (mostly behind his back) about how badly he spoiled Jaffer, but when it came to snacks, Sam was even easier to cajole than Jack was – and that was saying something!  
  
He gave her the '_I haven't eaten in weeks, just look how starved I am'_ look, and she gave him a pretzel with a smile.  
  
Bwahaha.  
  
Just for the hell of it, Jaffer brought himself up on his haunches in a classic sit up and beg motion, which Sam could never resist. It worked, and her eyes softened, she smiled brilliantly, and then she gave him an entire pepperoni stick.  
  
"You're more charming than anyone knows," Sam told him, tapping his nose as he munched his treat. She wasn't fooled by him, no matter what the dog thought. She knew that he knew exactly what to do to get her to give him what he wanted. The problem was; she couldn't resist him. He was a lot like Jack in that manner. And didn't they both know it?  
  
"He knows."  
  
They both turned and looked, and Sam smiled when she saw that Jack had made an appearance at the tent. Already dressed for the day, he looked a little better than he had earlier, if not still tired. Part of the change in his appearance could be that his shirt was on and covering the scratches, so he didn't look quite so chewed up.  
  
"Decided to get up?"  
  
"Lost my bed warmers."  
  
His smile took in both her and Jaffer, and he walked over and sat down next to her, reaching into the bag and pulling out a pepperoni stick, which he munched on while Jaffer watched carefully, waiting for the piece that he'd inevitably receive. Jack was, after all, the one who made up 90 percent of all Jaffer's snacks.  
  
A moment later, Jaffer was finishing Jack's pepperoni stick, and Jack had leaned down and picked up the spear that had been left for him the day before.  
  
"Think Daniel would mind if we went and checked on him?"  
  
"_Pestered_ him, you mean?"  
  
"Checked on him sounds nicer."  
  
"It'd still be pestering."  
  
"I gave him-"  
  
"A few hours. Let's give him a little more time. Come on, there's things we can do around here."  
  
There were things they could do. They needed to gather up more firewood. They finished the breakfast dishes. They pulled the sleeping bags out of everyone's tents and hung them from branches to air out in the fresh morning breeze. They took an inventory of what they had left for food (more than enough) and fed Jaffer a bowl of dog food. They cleaned up any garbage that had escaped their notice (there was very little, since they were firm believers in not making a mess of someone else's planet) and then the two of them sat side by side and cleaned their firearms – although they did make sure they didn't have all the weapons disassembled at one time. (Wouldn't that have been the perfect time for someone to attack them?)  
  
By the time they were finished, the sun was well up in the sky, and it was past noon. Jack and Sam slung their P-90s over their shoulders (an action that made O'Neill wince, just a little) and headed for the ruins.  
  
...................  
  
"So... what have you found out?"  
  
Daniel scowled, looking up at the sound of Jack's voice.  
  
"I thought you were going to give me a few hours?"  
  
"I did."  
  
"We gave you 9 hours, Daniel." Sam told him.  
  
The archeologist looked up, beyond them and towards the sun, and then down at his watch. Wow, he hadn't even noticed the time was passing so quickly.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So...?" Jack was looking at him expectantly. "Are they Mayans?"  
  
"No."  
  
"They're not?"  
  
"How many Mayan legends tell about people among them who can disappear?" Daniel asked Jack, pointedly.  
  
O'Neill shrugged.  
  
"None of the ones I've read." (Which totaled out to... none)  
  
"What about the Mayan writing, Daniel?" Sam asked.  
  
"Well..." He looked at the wall he'd been translating. "It seems the people that live here – the ones who can vanish at will – were brought here by their god."  
  
"Doesn't _that_ have a familiar ring to it?" Jack asked, sarcastically.  
  
"It's not like you think, Jack." Daniel told him, shaking his head. "This god wasn't a Goa'uld, who was bringing his slaves someplace convenient so he could round them up at will later when he needed hosts."  
  
"What was it, then?"  
  
"The lands where they had lived were failing them – probably their planet was in the middle of some kind of geophysical change – although I don't know for sure, yet. It just says their corn wasn't growing, and their people were going hungry, so their god – who is represented by this symbol, although I don't know the word – gathered them together and put them in a great 'skyboat' and brought them here. 'Where _the grass is green and the corn grows higher than a man stands'_."  
  
"Ah."  
  
"So someone obviously moved the people here... where do the Mayans come in?"  
  
"This planet has a Stargate, although it seems the people that were brought here never knew what it was for, and obviously didn't know how to operate it. One day, the great circle – the gate, obviously – spewed water, and a evil god came forth, with a handful of people – a group of screaming, crying, terrified people who were being herded like goats – according to this."  
  
"Mayans?"  
  
"Yeah, looks like it." 


	19. 19

Author's Note: This would be going faster if the floating hands people spoke English, but it wouldn't be very realistic, so until they figure out how to express themselves to each other, you'll have to bear with me!  
  
.......................  
  
"So what happened?" Jack asked, watching as Jaffer walked over to greet Daniel, sniffing his empty breakfast plate, and then sticking his nose into the archeologist's hand so he'd have to pet him. Daniel complied, scratching the dog's ears as he shrugged.  
  
"I haven't found out, yet." He pointed to the walls around him with his free hand. "It's all right here, though. I don't think this area was a place for worship at all. I think it's a place to tell their history."  
  
"Tell who?"  
  
Daniel shrugged. "At the moment, us."  
  
"So what are these people called?"  
  
Daniel shrugged again.  
  
"Is that all you know so far?"  
  
"Sorry." Daniel sounded far more frustrated than Jack did, and O'Neill knew that he was doing his best, and that was saying something.  
  
"Nah, you're doing great, Daniel. Is there anything we can do to help you?"  
  
"Just leave me alone, Jack."  
  
Jaffer sneezed, spraying dog snot all over Daniel.  
  
"And take Jaffer with you."  
  
"Teal'c? You need a break? I'll take over guard duty."  
  
"Thank you, O'Neill."  
  
Teal'c didn't mind being the guard. He was very well suited for it, after all. However, he was ready for a break, and maybe a chance to grab a bite to eat.  
  
"Why don't I stand guard?" Sam asked, smiling at the look on Daniel's face. If Jack were to remain, Daniel knew he wasn't going to get anything done. And it showed.  
  
"It's my turn, Carter."  
  
"You can take Jaffer for another walk. Maybe go see if you can get someone to come and say hi."  
  
"That's a great idea, Sam." Daniel agreed, looking at Jack hopefully.  
  
Jack scowled. He wasn't dumb. He knew what they were doing.  
  
"I don't want to go for a walk."  
  
Daniel sighed, and Jack remembered that he was supposed to be helping, not being a pain in the butt.  
  
"Fine. Sam, you stand watch. When you get tired of listening to Daniel mumbling to himself, give me a call and I'll take over."  
  
Carter smiled, and nodded, and Jack called Jaffer to his side and walked off.  
  
"I don't mumble..." Daniel mumbled, more to himself than to Sam. He didn't see her smile as he turned his attention back to the wall he was translating.  
  
.......................  
  
"Come on, Jaffer," Jack grumbled, looking down as the big black lab came over to walk next to Jack in a perfect heel. "We'll go see if ole Y'soa will come and talk to us." Wouldn't _that_ just put a burr under Daniel's saddle? Thinking that he should return the favor of Y'soa giving him the salve to use on himself and Jaffer, Jack stopped at his tent and rummaged through his personal pack, looking for something that might be useful to a guy that could disappear into thin air at any time.  
  
He toyed with the notion of giving him a knife, but decided that something less pointed might be better. It was one thing for them to give him a spear to protect himself with, but it was another for him to give Y'soa a razor sharp knife that was definitely not designed as a tool. Instead, Jack pulled out a small, square, metal tin that held something no one knew Jack took with him on missions. (Except Jaffer, who knew everything). With the tin in one hand, and his P-90 in the other – since he had no intention of gaining another set of feline scratches – he waved a goodbye to Teal'c, and he and Jaffer headed out into the forest.  
  
...............  
  
"Y'soa!"  
  
Jack's call echoed through the woods. He and Jaffer had been walking for about twenty minutes – far enough out into the woods that his calls wouldn't bother Daniel, and hopefully would reach the floating people – if not Y'soa himself.  
  
He didn't really expect to be answered. Not really. If he had, he would have taken Daniel with him. It was just a way to kill time, and maybe let the floating hand people at least know that he was interested in continuing their relationship.  
  
"Y'soa!"  
  
"_Ja-ack_."  
  
They whirled at the soft voice behind them, and Jack barely managed to keep from bringing his gun up – which was an automatic thing when someone sneaked up behind him. It would have been bad form, of course, even if Y'soa didn't know the P-90 was a dangerous weapon.  
  
Sure enough, the same guy was standing in front of them. Complete with the same brightly colored skirt and sash. Jack wondered if all his people wore sashes, or if it meant he had some kind of rank.  
  
"Uh... hi." Jack raised his hand in greeting, pretty surprised that he'd been answered – especially so quickly.  
  
The hand up in greeting was a fairly common symbol of greeting, and even Y'soa understood that one. He raised his hand as well.  
  
"_Kique, Ja-ack_." The man looked down at Jaffer, who was wagging his tail and looking cheerfully up at the smaller man, friendly now that he knew there was no threat. The cheerfulness in his brown eyes was so infectious that Y'soa smiled in response. "_Kique, Ja-fer_."  
  
Jaffer ambled up to him and stuck his nose into Y'soa's hand (Jack was grateful he didn't do the whole nose in the crotch thing) and Y'soa's smile grew bigger. He stroked the lab's nose cautiously – after all, he'd seen what those teeth could do when the dog was fighting the feline – but Jaffer was all for being petted, and his tail wagged even harder.  
  
"_Ja-fer wersijid bu'kilsis_!"  
  
The delight on Y'soa's face made O'Neill smile, even though he didn't have a clue what was being said. He shrugged, and gave the man a chance to pet Jaffer for a moment, then decided to try another bit of conversation.  
  
"Y'soa?"  
  
The man looked up from Jaffer, and saw Jack holding the small metal tin out in his hand, obviously offering it to him. He walked over, looking at it with obvious confusion, and Jack grinned, and took the lid off, doing it slowly as a demonstration.  
  
"_Selicwe_?"  
  
"They're for you." Jack said. Taking one of the Oreo cookies out of the tin and holding it out to Y'soa, who took it, and looked at it as if unsure what to do with it.  
  
"You eat it."  
  
"_Sel_?"  
  
Jack took a cookie out of the tin, held it up so Y'soa could see it was the same thing, and then took a bite.  
  
"You eat it." He repeated, chewing, then gestured for Y'soa to do the same. "Try it. You'll like it."  
  
Cautiously, like a kid trying a new vegetable for the first time, the man sniffed the cookie, and then took a small bite. It was obvious what he thought of it, since his face lit up immediately, and the next bite he took was far more enthusiastic.  
  
"_Ja-ack! Hed'ipli ouf sihiduy_!"  
  
O'Neill grinned.  
  
"I know. Too bad you don't have a glass of milk to dip it in."  
  
He handed the tin over to Y'soa, who took it with a deep bow, and a huge grin.  
  
"_Dr'iserf al lidut, Ja-ack_."  
  
With that, the man vanished again, taking the tin of cookies with him, and leaving Jack and Jaffer to stare at empty space once more.  
  
"Huh." 


	20. 20

"You gave him cookies?"  
  
"Not just any cookies, Daniel. I gave him _Oreos_."  
  
Carter rolled her eyes, grinning.  
  
Daniel scowled.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to go try to get him to come out and talk?"  
  
"Hey, don't be mad at me. I didn't want to go in the first place, remember? I wanted to stay here and guard your butt, and you wouldn't let me." He shrugged. "Besides, I didn't think he'd really come when I called him."  
  
"Well, we know better, now, don't we?" Sam said, smiling at the look on Daniel's face.  
  
"Have you learned anything more about these Mayan folk and the other ones?" Jack asked, changing the subject.  
  
"A little bit." Daniels looked at the section of the wall. "It appears that these peoples' god doesn't like the Goa'uld, or just didn't like the way the Goa'uld was treating the Mayan people he'd brought through the gate – or maybe he didn't like the uninvited company... I'm not sure, yet..."  
  
"Daniel..."  
  
He was rambling. A sign of how much mental work he was doing, and how much pressure he was putting on himself to get the translation done as quickly as he could.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"So their god didn't like the Goa'uld? What did he do?"  
  
"Disintegrated him."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"That's what it says. It says he – I wish I knew this symbol – called forth the lightning from a clear sky, and struck down the evil god, freeing the slaves of the ring."  
  
"Wow."  
  
"Yup."  
  
"So then what?"  
  
"Well, the people here couldn't understand the Mayans, and vice versa, so they had a lot of trouble communicating at first."  
  
"I can relate to that."  
  
Daniel scowled at the reminder that he'd missed out on first contact with the aliens.  
  
"So what did they do?" Sam asked.  
  
"They learned each other's languages. The people took the Mayan refugees in and took care of them, and eventually they started communicating."  
  
"So then what?" Jack asked. "Are the Mayans still here? Did they integrate with the other folk?"  
  
"I'm not sure." Daniel rubbed his face tiredly, and Jack decided he needed a break from staring at the wall or a while.  
  
"Time for a break, Daniel."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You need to take a break. Rest your eyes. Get something to eat."  
  
"I don't want to take a break, Jack. I want to find out what happens."  
  
"I do, too, Daniel. But you need a break before you go cross-eyed."  
  
Jack stood up, and reached down and pulled Daniel to his feet as well.  
  
"Jack! I don't want to take a break."  
  
"Sure you do. Jeeze, you must have to go to the bathroom, at least."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Daniel. Do what I tell you, okay?"  
  
"Jack-"  
  
"Daniel," Sam interrupted before the two of them could really start to argue. "Why don't you come with me? We'll get a bite to eat, and you can rest your eyes. You do look a little tired."  
  
Great. When they ganged up on him, Daniel knew he didn't have a chance. When Sam didn't agree with Jack, it was always possible that she could convince him to change his mind, but Daniel knew that wasn't going to happen this time. He sighed, and shrugged.  
  
"Fine. I'll eat, and take a break. But not for long." Besides, he _did_ have to pee.  
  
His break ended up being longer than he'd intended. Daniel had sat down near the fire, leaning against one of the big sun-warmed rocks, and had demolished a huge meal that Sam brought him. While the others watched, he fell asleep with the empty plate on his lap.  
  
Carter looked at Jack, wondering if he were going to wake him up so he wouldn't miss any time for translating, but Jack shook his head. Daniel needed the sleep or he wouldn't have checked out so quickly.  
  
"Let him sleep, Sam," Jack murmured, softly. "If he wakes up mad, tell him I ordered you to, and if he has a problem with it to come find me."  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Over to look at the wall."  
  
"You're not going to do anything to it, are you?"  
  
Jack gave her an innocent look, and grinned. "What could I possibly do to it, Sam?" He asked. "I just want to go look at it."  
  
She didn't look convinced, but Jack didn't say anything else. He stood up, debated the temperature to decide if Daniel needed to be covered with a blanket – there were clouds building up on the horizon, but the day was very warm and mild – and decided he would be okay without one. Then he headed for the ruins, with Jaffer at his side.  
  
Carter shook her head, but she was smiling as she watched him go.  
  
.................  
  
Jack walked over to the wall, and crouched down next to it, running his fingers along the chiseled symbols and wishing for the first time he could really remember that he could do what Daniel did.  
  
Jaffer sneezed, and Jack looked over at his dog, grinning when he saw Jaffer had returned to the hole in the wall he'd made earlier in their visit.  
  
"You stay out of that stuff, little man."  
  
The big lab wagged his tail, giving Jack an innocent look that said he wasn't planning on doing anything – which of course, Jack didn't buy for a second. He called Jaffer close to himself, and picked up Daniel's notebook, and started thumbing through it, looking at the symbols, and the translations, glad that Daniel's handwriting was readable.  
  
Jaffer looked at Jack reproachfully, as if the dog was well aware that Jack was doing something he wasn't supposed to be. Jack gave him an innocent look.  
  
"Relax. I'm not going to do mess it up. I'm just looking."  
  
Jaffer sneezed, but the look he gave Jack told him he didn't by that anymore than Daniel would have. Jack ignored the look, and resumed his rummaging through the notes, looking for something he could actually use the next time he saw Y'soa. 


	21. 21

The clouds moved a lot quicker on this planet than they did on Earth. The storm that Jack had noticed far off on the horizon was on him before he really believed it could have been possible. The slight quickening of the breeze and a rumble of distant thunder were his first warnings that the sunny day was about to come to a close, and Jack looked up from Daniel's notes and was surprised to see the clouds so close.  
  
Gathering up Daniel's notes, and looking around to make sure there wasn't any more that might be set somewhere else – which was highly unlikely, considering how organized Daniel was – Jack headed back for their camp at a trot, with Jaffer close at hand.  
  
Sam and Teal'c had noticed the approaching clouds as well, and the two of them were standing near the dead fire watching them when Jack came into the campsite.  
  
"There's a storm coming," Jack told them. "I think."  
  
"I thought I detected thunder rumbling in the distance, O'Neill."  
  
"Me, too, Teal'c." He looked at the sleeping archeologist, and handed Sam Daniel's notes. "Go put those in Daniel's tent, Sam, will ya? Make sure they're someplace safe."  
  
She nodded, and carried them off, and Jack went over to kneel by Daniel, grinning when he saw Daniel was drooling a little in his sleep. Jack reached out and touched his shoulder.  
  
"Daniel."  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
He didn't open his eyes.  
  
"It's time for your lecture... do you have your notes ready?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
Jack stifled a snicker. Daniel was so much fun to mess with, and Jack so rarely had such a perfect opportunity.  
  
"What's the lecture on?"  
  
"Cross colonization of the..." Daniel opened his eyes, suddenly, looking up at Jack. "What the...?"  
  
"Time to wake up."  
  
He sat up, scowling and looking around. The sky was considerably darker than it had been the last time his eyes were open, but it wasn't because it was so much later, it was because the sun had just gone behind a group of clouds.  
  
"What time is it?"  
  
"It's only about an hour or so after you fell asleep, but I figured we'd better get you out of the storm before it hits."  
  
"What storm?" Daniel was still sleep-fogged, after all. He looked up at the sky, and saw the steadily darkening sky.  
  
"_Shit_! My _notes_!"  
  
Before he could lunge to his feet in panic, Jack held him down.  
  
"Relax, Daniel. I brought them in. Sam's putting them in your tent right now."  
  
"They're safe, Daniel." Carter had rejoined Jack and Teal'c, who was watching the sky.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"SG-6 didn't mention any rainstorms in their reports," Jack said, looking at the others as he stood up and helped Daniel to his feet.  
  
"You _read_ their reports?" Daniel asked.  
  
"I might have skimmed them..."  
  
Of course he'd read them, since he'd been planning on bringing Jaffer. But he hadn't meant for them to know that. Jack scowled.  
  
"What I'm getting at is we don't know how much of a storm we're in for, so just to be on the safe side..." Jack was always on the safe side when he could be, when it came to the others of his team "...we might want to secure the tents a little better and pull out the rain coverings for them. Sam? We'll put the food supplies in your tent. Teal'c? All other supplies go to yours. We'll put the dry firewood in mine."  
  
They knew better than to put the food supplies in Jack's. Especially with Jaffer.  
  
"What do you want me to do, Jack?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Head back to the ruins and make sure I got all your notes. Otherwise you'll be worrying about it if it starts to rain." The wind was already picking up, howling something fierce at times when it started gusting.  
  
Daniel nodded.  
  
"Take Jaffer with you."  
  
Jack looked down at his black lab, who looked up at him, his eyes grinning cheerfully. Jaffer liked storms.  
  
"You go with Daniel, little man." He looked at the archeologist. "Straight there and straight back, Daniel. Just take a quick look."  
  
"I will, Jack."

Daniel was slightly annoyed by the lecture on coming straight back, but he knew it was warranted. He'd been sidetracked by things before, on other missions, and had fallen behind, or drifted away. He just wondered when Jack was going to stop reminding him about those times. Of course, Daniel was also touched that Jack was sending Jaffer to come with him, because there were very few reasons that were important enough to send his dog away from him – and Daniel had been subtly told he was one of them. It was a nice feeling to know you were so cared about. Nice enough to allow the nagging about coming there and right back.  
  
He and Jaffer headed off into the woods towards the ruins, and Jack and the others started gathering their supplies and stowing them into their tents.  
  
"Next time, we bring a supply tent!" Jack called to the others over the howling wind.  
  
"Agreed!" Teal'c called back as he shoved the bags with spare ammunition and other such items into the back of his own tent, and then pulled out the huge canopy that was designed to go over the tent in the event of bad weather. This certainly qualified. Teal'c attached his fairly quickly, and then went over to help Sam with hers. Jack had his up in a flash as well – lots of practice, after all – then the three of them put Daniel's on his tent. Just in time, too. There was a loud rumble of thunder, and the sky opened up on them, bringing in the rain.  
  
"Get inside!" Jack called to Sam and Teal'c as he drove the last peg into the ground by Daniel's tent.  
  
The two went to Sam's tent and closed it up behind them, and Jack slipped on his cat-mangled jacket to give him some protection from the rain as he waited for Daniel and Jaffer to get back. There was no way he'd go inside until he was sure the rest of his team was safe – and of course, he'd wait for his baby.


	22. 22

Jack had waited long enough. Yeah, it was only a few minutes since Teal'c and Carter had vanished into Sam's tent, but O'Neill was already soaked to the skin and worried about how long it was taking Daniel and Jaffer. He headed across the drenched fire pit and towards the ruins.  
  
Before he'd made it out of the wooded area into the clearing, however, he saw the two coming towards them at a trot, and saw the reason it had taken so long. Daniel was carrying the bag of chips that held the translation from Mayan to the wall symbols. Jack hadn't even thought about grabbing them up.  
  
"What are you doing?" Daniel asked as he came up to them, and the three headed for the camp.  
  
"Just making sure you didn't get lost," Jack called back over the shrieking wind. "Come on!"  
  
He led the way to his tent and pulled the flap aside, gesturing for Daniel to get inside. The archeologist wasted no time; he dove in with his bag and with Jaffer right behind him. Jack took one last look at the rain that was coming down practically sideways, and dove into his tent as well, closing the flap securely, and then closing the inner flap as well to keep any rain and wind out.  
  
"You weren't really worried I was going to get lost, were you?" Daniel asked in the relative quiet of Jack's tent.  
  
"Of course not." Jack scoffed. Daniel almost believed him. "I was worried Jaffer'd get wet and catch a cold. He's wounded, you know?"  
  
Jack rummaged through his bag and pulled out a couple towels. Daniel was as drenched as he was, and shivering, and Jaffer was soaked to the skin – although he was a water dog, of course, and was hardly going to suffer from a little water.  
  
"Get out of them clothes, Daniel, and get dried off." Jack tossed one of the towels to the archeologist, and called Jaffer over to him so he could start drying his dog.  
  
"Jack, I don't have any other clothes here." Daniel protested, even though he was already pulling off his shirt. He was cold, and wanted to be dry.  
  
"You can borrow some of mine." He gestured to his bag. "I have plenty."  
  
Good idea. Daniel finished stripping and dried himself off with the towel, watching as Jack carefully patted Jaffer's black fur down as well, avoiding the scratched areas.  
  
"Wet dog." Daniel said, wrinkling his nose.  
  
"Oh believe me, Daniel; we'd much rather have Sam in here with us," Jack said, tossing Daniel some clothes.  
  
Jaffer sneezed.  
  
"He couldn't already have a cold."  
  
Jack looked at the bag of bark chips, and scowled as Jaffer sneezed again.  
  
"He doesn't have a cold, you ninny. He's allergic to that bag of stuff."  
  
"Want me to take it to my tent?"  
  
Jack sighed, and shook his head.  
  
"Nah, I'll do it. You're already dried." He tossed the towel he was using on Jaffer over the big black lab's head – a reminder of a game he and Jaffer had played all his life, and the dog pulled it off happily, looking up as Jack stood up. "You stay here, little man. I'll be right back. Want anything from your tent?"  
  
"My notes?"  
  
"They'll get wet."  
  
Bah.  
  
Jaffer sneezed again, and Jack picked up the offending bag. "I'll be right back."  
  
He opened the tent and headed back out into the rainstorm, carrying the bag carefully so the wind couldn't send the chips flying all over. Wow, this was crazy! He'd never seen it go from so nice to so shitty so quickly. Jack tossed the bag into Daniel's tent, closed it up again carefully, and then headed back to his tent. He stopped at Carter's, though, and yelled for them to let him in.  
  
"Jack, you're soaked." Sam said, closing the tent flap behind him. "Is everything all right?"  
  
"Yeah. Daniel and Jaffer are in my tent; we'll wait this out there. Daniel brought in that bag that Jaffer's allergic to, so I had to put it in his tent to get it away from Sir Sneeze A Lot."  
  
"Everything okay?"  
  
"Yup. You guys going to be okay in here?"  
  
"Fine." Teal'c said.  
  
Of course they were; they were both dry, and they had all the food. Jack reached into the supply bag and pulled out a package full of s'mores makings along with a few candy bars. He stuffed them into a waterproof bag, and looked at Sam and Teal'c.  
  
"No telling how long it'll take till this blows over, but if you need anything, use the radios. Don't get wet unless you have to." Which meant unless they had to pee.  
  
"We'll be fine."  
  
"I know."  
  
He opened the tent, and left, once more fighting the wind and rain as he made his way back to his tent with his package of food.  
  
"Coming in, Daniel," Jack called.  
  
He didn't need the warning. Jaffer had been waiting for Jack's return, watching the tent flap intently, and his tail had begun wagging as soon as he'd heard Jack's approach. Jack tossed the bag to Daniel as soon as he was in, then turned and tied the flap once more. The archeologist had dressed himself in one of O'Neill's spare uniforms, which fit acceptably well. Certainly better than running around naked.  
  
"It's nasty out there."  
  
Daniel was looking in the bag as Jack started pulling off his clothes to get dried himself.  
  
"Well, I see you made sure to get the essentials..."  
  
"Well... you know me..."  
  
The two grinned at each other as Jack dried himself off.  
  
"What do you have to keep us entertained, Jack?" Daniel asked. "No telling how long this is going to last."  
  
"Deck of cards?" Jack pointed to his packs.  
  
"That'll work."  
  
"Throw me some clothes, and then dig them out while I get dressed." 


	23. 23

It was a miserable way to spend the rest of the day. The smell of wet dog permeated the small area, and it was cold in the tent. Everything was damp, since all three occupants were damp, and had been soaked when they'd crawled in, and the bedding they were sitting on was damp as well. The temperature outside dropped dramatically, going from balmy to chilly in only a matter of minutes. They draped blankets over their shoulders to keep warm, and with Jaffer sprawled between them; they played cards to kill time while the storm raged outside. Occasionally the wind would shake the tent, as if trying to blow it away, but the stakes held and the sturdy little structure stayed where it was.  
  
"Well, I'm certainly getting a lot done today," Daniel complained, laying a card down on Jaffer – who was their acting card table, since he was between them. The lab didn't care; he was warm and comfortable and had no intention of getting up. They could use him as a dinner table, if they wanted. For that matter, he hoped they did.  
  
"It could be worse."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"How?"  
  
"No clue."  
  
"Thanks, Jack," Daniel said sarcastically. "I feel so much better now."  
  
"That's what I'm here for."  
  
They played cards for a couple hours before they eventually grew bored of it, then munched on s'mores – using Jack's Zippo to heat the marshmallows – and occasionally feeding Jaffer a graham cracker, which was gobbled happily, even though he really wanted chocolate and marshmallow to go with them.  
  
"How much longer can it rain?" Daniel asked, grumpily. He'd just talked to Sam on the radio, who'd just been outside, and she reported that it didn't show any signs of letting up anytime soon.  
  
"All day? Another ten minutes? I don't know, Daniel."  
  
Jack had stretched out next to Jaffer, who was once more laid out between him and Daniel.  
  
"It never rained while SG-6 was here."  
  
"I know." He shrugged. "You might as well go to sleep, Daniel. Get your rest now, and when it stops raining you can go outside and play."  
  
Jack closed his eyes, having every intention of practicing what he was preaching.  
  
Daniel grumbled. He mumbled to himself and complained about wasted time. Really, though, there wasn't anything he could do about the weather, so he followed Jack's lead and stretched out as well. Jaffer gave off a lot of heat for such a lazy dog, and Daniel found himself cuddling up to the black lab to avail himself of that warmth. Again, Jaffer didn't mind. He was used to being cuddle. Jack cuddled with him all the time, and even Sam occasionally would cuddle with him when she wanted a living teddy bear to hold. He liked being snuggled against. He always had.  
  
The three of them fell asleep listening to the rain falling on the tent covering.  
  
................................  
  
Predictably enough, it was Jaffer who woke Jack up. He was thirsty, and hungry, and even more importantly, he needed out. Right away. Jack groaned, but rolled out from under the lab who was straddling his chest like he always did.  
  
"Okay, okay."  
  
He pushed the dog away before he could get licked again, and shivered. It was downright cold. Or maybe he was just cold because he was leaving his warm blanket.  
  
"Is it morning?" Daniel opened his eyes when Jack got up.  
  
O'Neill looked at his watch.  
  
"No, it's still early. Jaffer wants out so I'm going to take him out. Go back to sleep."  
  
"Still raining?"  
  
It was a redundant question, since the two of them could hear the steady thrumming of rain on the roof of the tent – although the wind seemed to have died down a little. Jack answered anyways.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Bring back something to eat," Daniel said, pulling his blanket closer around himself and closing his eyes again. "Not something sweet."  
  
"Aye, aye."  
  
Pulling his jacket on, Jack grabbed a flashlight, opened the tent and let Jaffer out, then followed him. The rain was coming down pretty hard, still, and Jack was glad he'd decided to put the firewood they'd collected into his tent to keep it dry. They'd never find dry wood once the rain let up. It was dark out – it was the middle of the night, after all – and the woods were silent, aside from the sound of the rain. Apparently, all the critters were hunkered down waiting for the rain to stop, too. He followed Jaffer off to the stream where the lab took a long drink, and then Jack watered a tree while he waited for Jaffer to find the perfect place to pee.  
  
When both of them had taken care of their needs, they headed back to camp. They were soaked to the skin once more, although this time it wasn't quite so bad, since the wind wasn't blowing. He didn't stop and get something to eat. For one thing, he didn't want to pester Sam and Teal'c, who were almost certainly asleep. For another, he didn't want to get them wet when he went into Sam's tent. And lastly, he didn't want to stay outside any longer than necessary.  
  
Daniel didn't even notice. He was asleep again when Jack returned, and the minute he had the tent flap closed behind them, Jack grabbed a towel and dried off Jaffer before the lab shook himself to dry off and maybe woke Daniel up. Kneeling by the door of the tent, he had Jaffer sit in front of him, and rubbed him down thoroughly with the towel while Jaffer tried to grab it in his teeth.  
  
Once Jaffer was dried, Jack let him go, and the lab went over and cuddled against Daniel in the spot he'd vacated only half an hour before. Daniel's arm came out from beneath his blanket and curled around the big lab almost immediately, and Jack smiled, wishing he had a camera.  
  
With Jaffer's needs out of the way, Jack could turn his attention to his own. He was drenched once more, and this time he couldn't get to his pack for dry clothes – which he wasn't all that sure he had any more of. Daniel was using Jack's pack as a pillow. He sighed – to himself – and pulled off his clothes. He thought about heading over to Daniel's tent, which had at least one warm, dry blanket, but he didn't want to go back out in the rain. Naked except for his boxers, Jack rolled up in his damp blanket, snuggled up against the other side of Jaffer, and shivered himself back to sleep. 


	24. 24

"Jack?"  
  
A voice he knew better than any was whispering softly in his ear, tickling him in the most pleasant way possible.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Wake up. You need to come see this."  
  
There was no panic in her voice, so he knew whatever it was he had to wake up and come see, it wasn't a ring of Jaffa surrounding the camp with staff weapons pointed at them. Chances were it wasn't anything dangerous.  
  
"Is it still raining?"  
  
He wasn't going to leave his blankets until it stopped raining.  
  
"No, it's still sprinkling a little, but the real heavy stuff seems to have stopped." She reached out and touched his cheek. "Come on, get up and come outside and see this."  
  
Jack sighed, but nodded, and opened his eyes.  
  
"You, too, Daniel." Sam said, reaching over Jack and Jaffer to prod Daniel's shoulder to wake him.  
  
"What is it, Sam?"  
  
"Get up and come see."  
  
Carter's smile was mischievous. She rubbed Jaffer's side and the lab rolled over, bearing his belly for her touch.  
  
"You, too, Jaffer. It's breakfast time."  
  
Breakfast!  
  
Jaffer rolled over again, lurching to his feet and stepping on Jack's head in his haste to get up. O'Neill scowled, knowing Sam had done that on purpose, but she only grinned.  
  
"Two minutes, guys, or I'll send Teal'c in to wake you up with buckets of water."  
  
She disappeared, taking Jaffer with her, and Daniel looked over at Jack, his blue eyes as sleepy as O'Neill's.  
  
"Do we even _have_ buckets?"  
  
"No, but she'd probably figure out something." She was a genius, after all. "Come on."  
  
The two got out of their blankets, and dressed in their now dry clothing. It was still chilly inside the tent – which meant it was probably just as chilly outside – so they also pulled on jackets. Then they went outside, where the sky was gray and cloudy, and spitting rain down on them intermittently.  
  
And stared in shock at what they saw.  
  
The night before when he'd taken Jaffer out to pee, Jack had seen how soggy everything was and had been glad they'd stowed the dry firewood, since he'd known they'd never have gotten a fire started – short of using gasoline. Obviously, he hadn't been the only one that had worried about that.  
  
Sometime during the early hours of the morning, someone – and he had to assume it was the floating hand people since they were the only ones around that he knew of – had erected a canopy type structure over their entire fire area. The fire was lit, and the whole area around it was dry, which gave testimony to how long the fire had been going. The canopy was intriguing, even to Jack, who normally didn't notice such things. It trapped the heat of the fire but allowed the release of the smoke coming form the blaze, leaving the entire area pleasantly warmed, and not smelly.

There was a large stack of wood near at hand – all of it dry – and there was a kettle of something cooking over the fire that smelled delicious, and like nothing they'd brought with them. Teal'c was standing next to this, looking at the contents with interest.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
Sam smiled and walked over to them from where she'd been feeding Jaffer, who was near the fire munching away on a huge dish of dog food.  
  
"Obviously someone was worried about us, and decided we'd need help after the storm."  
  
Jack moved over to stand near the fire, soaking up the heat gratefully.  
  
"That was nice of them."  
  
"They seem like nice people." Sam agreed, following him.  
  
Daniel walked over and knelt near the fire, looking at the dish that their apparent breakfast was cooking in.  
  
"It's ceramic. Look at the way the level of the –"  
  
"Daniel?"  
  
He looked over at Jack.  
  
"I'm hungry. Analyze the bowl later."  
  
There were wooden bowls – five of them – sitting next to the fire, as well as four wooden spoons. Whoever had left them knew Jaffer didn't need a spoon obviously, and wasn't so sure that they had any eating utensils. There were also rolls wrapped in a bright red cloth and placed near the fire to keep them warm, and a pot of some brown liquid that Daniel decided must be tea.  
  
"Teal'c?" Jack asked. "What is it?"  
  
Teal'c was stirring the contents of the cooking pot with a large spoon (a metal one that they'd brought with them).  
  
"It appears to be some sort of stew, O'Neill."  
  
Stew for breakfast? Why not? The last thing he and Daniel had eaten was s'mores the evening before, and Jack was hungry.  
  
"Is it ready?"  
  
The Jaffa shrugged.  
  
"One way to find out."  
  
Jack dished it up for all of them, including Jaffer. It was a chowder of some sort, with a mixture of ingredients, some familiar, some not. There were chunks of fish, which might not have tasted so great with the vegetables that were also present in the stew, but it was so perfectly seasoned that Jack had to admit he liked it.  
  
The others were equally impressed. Daniel was eating it so hungrily that he wasn't even able to carry on a conversation about the quality of the carved wooden bowls, or the spoon he was eating with. The stew was good, the bread was hot and fresh, and with a little sugar the tea wasn't too bad, either (although it was a little strong). Coupled with the warmth that the canopy captured from the fire, and the morning started a lot better than Jack could have possibly hoped for the night before.  
  
They were all so intent on their breakfast – even Teal'c – that none of them noticed the arrival of their benefactors. Of course, since they came up to the campsite completely out of phase and as silently as ghosts, it was no surprise, really. It wasn't until they solidified, and the one in front spoke, that SG-1 noticed them.  
  
"_Ja-ack_."


	25. 25

Daniel dropped his bowl. And didn't even notice. He and everyone else were staring at the four people that had just materialized by them, but Jack was the only one that was smiling. The others were too surprised to. (And Teal'c rarely smiled, anyways, and definitely didn't do it when people snuck up on him)  
  
"Y'soa." Jack set his bowl down on the ground in front of him, and stood up, lifting a hand in greeting. As he tried to remember the phrase the man had used in greeting. "Um... Kique?"  
  
Not only did Y'soa smile, but the three men behind him smiled as well.  
  
"_Kique_, _Ja-ack_. _Kique, Ja-fer_."  
  
The black lab looked up from his breakfast of stew when he heard his name, and wagged his tail in greeting before turning back to what he was doing. The floating hand people were nothing new to him. This stew was! He did keep an ear open, though, just in case Jack wanted something from him.  
  
One of the other men with Y'soa said something to him, and pointed at Jaffer, smiling. Y'soa nodded in satisfaction, and looked at Jack, again, although he also looked at the other members of SG-1 as well.  
  
"_I'gnstrat_, _Ja-ack_?"  
  
O'Neill turned to Daniel, hoping he knew what was being said. Daniel shrugged; he didn't have a clue.  
  
"No idea, Jack." He said, apologetically. "It doesn't even sound a little like Mayan."  
  
Y'soa didn't seem offended. In fact, he seemed to understand that the others didn't know what he was saying. He pointedly looked at Sam, and pointed to himself.  
  
"_Y'soa_."  
  
"That's his name, Sam." Jack supplied.  
  
Carter nodded, and pointed at herself.  
  
"Sam."  
  
"Sa-aam?"  
  
"_Sah."_  
  
They all looked at Jack, who shrugged.  
  
"That means _yes_."  
  
"_Sah_," Sam said, nodding. "Sam."  
  
"Sa-aam."  
  
"Close enough."  
  
Y'soa looked at Teal'c, questioningly, and the Jaffa gave a slight bow.  
  
"I am Teal'c."  
  
There was a pause. This name was much longer.  
  
"_Ey-aam Teelk_?"  
  
The Jaffa shook his head, realizing his mistake. He pointed at himself.  
  
"Teal'c."  
  
"_Tee-alk_?"  
  
"Sah." Teal'c answered, bowing slightly again.  
  
"_Tee-alk_." Y'soa turned and looked at the men with him, and they nodded, all of them practicing the unfamiliar word.  
  
"_Sa-aam. Tee-alk_."  
  
Y'soa looked at Daniel, who had also stood up.  
  
"Daniel." He said it slowly, since he knew there were more syllables in his name than the others.  
  
"_Duh_..."  
  
"Aniel..."  
  
"_Da-anil_?"  
  
Close enough. Daniel nodded.  
  
"Sah."  
  
The men nodded.  
  
Jack looked at them, with the same expectant look that Y'soa had given Carter, and they understood it was their turn to introduce themselves. All of them were of a same type. All were wiry, brown people, with narrow, friendly faces and huge grins when they smiled. They were all dressed the same, as well. Cloth skirts similar to Y'soa's, and no shirts. They didn't have a sash like Y'soa did, which lead Jack to believe his earlier assessment that the sash was some kind of indicator of rank was probably a correct one. But it was obvious they were unaffected by the chilly temperature or the sprinkling rain.  
  
"_Plas_." The man behind Y'soa said, pointing at himself.  
  
SG-1 repeated it, but it was a pretty easy name to pronounce, and they did so reasonably well.  
  
Plas nodded, pleased with their pronunciation of his name.  
  
"_Sah_."  
  
Jack looked at the next man, who held up his hand and pointed to himself.  
  
"_Ikj'ara_."  
  
Yeah, that was a bit more complicated. Daniel repeated it perfectly, because he had a flair for languages and words and how they sounded. The others tripped over it, causing the men to smile, and Ikj'ara to repeat his name for them a few more time to help them. Eventually they got it, though, and the man nodded.  
  
"_Sah_."  
  
Hoping for another easy name, Jack looked at the last man he didn't know, and the man pointed at himself.  
  
"_Jolu_."  
  
Thank God.  
  
"Jolu." That was easy enough, too. Jack and the others repeated it a few times, to make sure they had it right and the man nodded, grinning ear to ear.  
  
"_Sah_."  
  
Introductions out of the way, Y'soa pointed at the pan of stew that was still warming to one side of the fire.  
  
"_Je'ldifidic_?"  
  
Jack looked over at Daniel again, but received a blank look.  
  
"It's good, Y'soa," Jack said, smiling. "Thank you."  
  
Y'soa didn't understand anything but the smile, but he smiled in return. He'd asked if they wanted more, but they didn't understand him any more than he understood them.  
  
Daniel stepped forward; looking directly at Y'soa, then knelt on the ground and drew a symbol. One of the ones he'd translated over from Mayan.  
  
"Thank you." He said, as he drew it.  
  
Y'soa and the other men watched, and then looked at Daniel, surprised.  
  
"_D'se_!"  
  
"D'se?" Daniel asked.  
  
"_D'se_!"  
  
Y'soa pointed at the picture.  
  
"D'se."  
  
"D'se is _thank you_?"  
  
"_D'se, Da-anil_." Y'soa nodded. "_Sah_."  
  
Jack pointed at the stew pot.  
  
"D'se, Y'soa."  
  
S'terk, Ja-ack."  
  
There were smiles all around. They'd made progress! Sort of.  
  
"So, we know yes. Thank you, and you're welcome." Jack said.  
  
"It's a start." Daniel replied. He thought about the other symbols he knew well enough to draw without his notes – there were precious few – and erased the thank you one and replaced it with another one. "Y'soa?"  
  
The men all looked to see what he'd drawn, and they nodded.  
  
"Sah. Todt."  
  
"Daniel?"  
  
He turned and looked up at Jack from where he was kneeling.  
  
"I asked him if they were friends, Jack."  
  
"Don't we already know they're friendly?"  
  
"It's not quite the same. They could be friendly because they fear us, or because they want us to know they're as advanced as we are, or just because it's a custom to help people who are strangers. This way we know that we can be friends."  
  
Daniel was grinning ear to ear. He'd been so disappointed every time he'd heard Jack telling them about meeting the floating hands people, but this time he was getting his chance to meet them, too!  
  
A rumble of thunder drew everyone's attention up to the sky, which was darkening again. Obviously, the rain wasn't finished with them.  
  
"Ja-ack." Y'soa drew O'Neill's attention back to himself, and the smaller man smiled and gave him a slight bow. "La'sre thrid al lo'lotuinatio ol al'imimp."  
  
It was mumbo jumbo to Jack, and he didn't bother looking at Daniel since he knew the archeologist was just going to shrug again. Jack gave Y'soa a helpless look, and the man smiled, knowing what was wrong. He knelt near Daniel, and drew a couple of symbols in the dirt there.  
  
"_Dr'iserf al lidut, Ja-ack."_ He said, standing up. "_Fri'klop jun'ish_."  
  
O'Neill had heard the first phrase before. Y'soa had said it before he'd vanished the last time, which mean it was probably good-bye. He didn't have a clue on the other one, though. He looked at Daniel, who was looking at the symbols.  
  
"I need my notes..."  
  
"_Fr'iklop_." The four men held their hands up, smiled – maybe a little more brightly at Sam – and then turned away from the fire. Just as they left the protection of the canopy, the rain started falling hard once more, and the four of them vanished. Obviously they could handle the rain just fine.  
  
"Did you _see_ that?!"  
  
Jack shook his head. He'd seen it before.  
  
"Yes, Daniel. Neat trick, huh?"  
  
He looked out at the rain, then up at the canopy. It was waterproof. Nothing was dripping down on them. It'd be safe to bring out the firewood, at least.  
  
"I need to get my notes..." Daniel said, excitedly, looking at the two symbols in the dirt. "Don't mess those up."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Like he was going to. He had no intention of doing anything but finishing his breakfast, and then maybe going back to bed if the rain wasn't going to let up. He looked down at his bowl and frowned. Then looked over at Daniel's. Both of them were empty, and very clean. Jack looked over at Jaffer, who was stretched out near the fire, a very satisfied look in his expression.  
  
Damn. 


	26. 26

"So?"  
  
"Don't rush me, Jack."  
  
Jack, Sam and Teal'c were looking over Daniel's shoulder. The archeologist was crouched near the two symbols that Y'soa had put into the dirt, and was thumbing through his notebook, looking for the matching symbols.  
  
"I'm not rushing you..."  
  
"Yes, you are."  
  
"No, I'm not."  
  
"Are."  
  
"Aren't."  
  
Sam smiled.  
  
"Well, this one means '_return'_ or something similar," Daniel said pointing at the first symbol.  
  
"Return what?"  
  
Daniel looked up from flipping through his notebook. "What?"  
  
"What are we returning? The dishes?"  
  
"Jack... sometimes you amaze me." He didn't sound amazed, though, and Jack scowled, wondering why Daniel was so annoyed. Maybe because Jaffer had finished his breakfast?  
  
"Yeah. I amaze myself sometimes, too."  
  
Daniel scowled, but it wasn't his annoyed scowl, it was the confused one. The one he wore a lot when he was talking to Jack. He shook his head, and went back to his notes.  
  
"This one means '_we will'_ or possibly '_I will'_."  
  
"So he's just saying they'll be back?" Sam hazarded, before O'Neill could say anything.  
  
Daniel nodded.  
  
"Maybe they're coming to get the dishes." Jack said, sitting down next to the fire once more, and reaching for his mess kit bowl so he could dish himself up a new batch of the fish stew.  
  
"Perhaps they simply wished to introduce themselves to the rest of us, and to allow us the opportunity to meet a few other members of their people." Teal'c said.  
  
"No better time to make introductions than after feeding you a warm breakfast on a cold morning," Sam said, nodding her agreement.  
  
"So they'll be back, eventually," Jack said, shrugging. "Good. I kind of like them."  
  
"You _do_?" Daniel looked surprised. Jack rarely liked anyone immediately.  
  
Duh. They obviously liked Jaffer, and anyone who liked Jaffer was automatically someone Jack could like. What was more, _Jaffer_ liked _them_. Which said a lot about what kind of people they were. Even more than making Jack and the others breakfast and providing them with a warm canopy thing ever could.  
  
O'Neill shrugged.  
  
"They're snappy dressers."  
  
"So what should we do while we wait?" Sam asked, looking out at the rain, which was falling at least as hard as it had been the night before – although the driving wind wasn't present.  
  
"I'm going to go to the wall and try to translate more of their story," Daniel said.  
  
"Better take an umbrella."  
  
"I'll make notes of the symbols and bring them back and translate them here." Daniel wouldn't dream of risking his precious notes in the rain.  
  
"I shall accompany you, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c informed him.  
  
"Me, too, Daniel." Sam said. "We can copy the symbols onto paper for you, even if we don't know what they say."  
  
"True."  
  
"Have fun, kids."  
  
Sam looked at O'Neill, who was blowing on a spoonful of the stew to cool it before eating it.  
  
"You're not coming?"  
  
"I'll clean up breakfast and get things organized around here," Jack told her.  
  
Besides, the damp cold weather was wreaking havoc on his knees, and he didn't want to move around anymore than necessary.  
  
"Letting Jaffer lick the bowls out is not cleaning them," Sam reminded him.  
  
"I know, Sam."  
  
"Just making sure..."  
  
Jack gave her a smile that lit up his dark eyes, and she couldn't help but smile back.  
  
"Wear warm clothes, and try to stay as dry as you can, okay?"  
  
"We will."  
  
Of course, none of them had thought to bring an umbrella, but they could improvise with pieces of canvas they'd brought for ground covers they hadn't needed. The three of them went to their tents and changed into warmer clothing, and grabbed paper and pens – which were immediately tucked under jackets to keep them dry – and with a wave to Jack, they headed out, holding the weatherproof materials over their heads to stay dry.  
  
"Alone at last," Jack said, taking another bite of the stew. He wondered how he'd be able to get the recipe for it. Hell, he didn't even know if the stuff in it was available back home. For that matter.... He wasn't really sure he _wanted_ to know what was in it.  
  
.....................  
  
He didn't slack like they probably thought he was going to. Yeah, he relaxed while he finished off his breakfast, but after that, he actually got to work. Jack was experienced at camping, and at taking care of a camp. He knew what needed to be done, and knew that they wouldn't want to do it when they returned. They were going to be cold. And wet.  
  
He went to the stream with all the canteens, and with the large pot they used for cooking. He filled them, and toted them back to the fire where he set the large pot to heating, and then returned with the coffee pot and set that to brewing as well. The floating hand people made an okay tea, but Jack wanted coffee, and he knew the others would want it as well.  
  
He pulled all the firewood out of his tent and stacked it by the fire, then used the now hot water in the large pot to wash the dishes, including the wooden bowls and the ceramic cooking pot the stew had been in. He straightened everything up, then filled the canteens with coffee, and scowled at the rain as he headed out into it. Yeah, like scowling at it was going to make it stop raining. 


	27. 27

Carter felt like a drowned rat. Despite her best efforts, and despite having her jacket zipped up to her chin and her hat pulled down as far as she could, she was soaked to the skin and was rather chilled. Thanks to the piece of waterproof canvas that she was holding over her lap, her paper wasn't too wet, and she supposed that was the most important thing, but she was about ready to head back to camp and get dried off. Then Jaffer came up to her, cheerful brown eyes looking so adoringly at her that it warmed her heart – which was good, because the cold nose he stuck into her hand was chilling.  
  
"How's it going, kids?"  
  
She smiled. She'd known that where Jaffer was, Jack couldn't be far behind. Looking up at him, she reached for the canteen he handed down to her.  
  
"Please tell me it's not water?" She said, certain that she looked as miserable as she felt.  
  
"It's coffee."  
  
He stood close to where she was crouched next to the wall, taking the brunt of the rain that was falling on her while she opened the canteen and took a grateful sip.  
  
"_Good_ coffee, even." She held it away from Jaffer, who was always willing to investigate when someone was eating or drinking something.  
  
"Yeah. I do have my little talents." He frowned, though, despite the banter, and she knew he was about to go into mother hen mode. It was obvious by the look on his face.  
  
"Maybe it's time to head back and get warmed up?"  
  
Sam nodded. She'd been thinking the same thing, so she definitely wasn't going to argue.  
  
"I think I've got enough to keep Daniel occupied for a little while, anyways."  
  
"Good. You head back, I'll round up Daniel and Teal'c." If Sam was this wet and chilled-looking, then it was certain the others were, too.  
  
She stood up and handed him the canteen back with a smile.  
  
"Is there more at camp?"  
  
"Of course." Jack looked down at Jaffer. "Why don't you take him with you, Sam?" That would get both of them out of the driving rain. "You know, for protection."  
  
Yeah. She wasn't fooled for a moment. Jack wasn't carrying a gun, so obviously he wasn't worried about protection at that moment.  
  
"I'll get him dried off for you."  
  
"Only after _you_ get dry," Jack told her, seriously.  
  
"C'mon handsome," Sam said to Jaffer, tucking her paper into her Jacket to keep it as dry as she could. Which wasn't very dry, either. Jaffer wagged his tail, and looked at Jack to make sure he wasn't needed, and Jack shooed him off.  
  
"Off with you, little man. Keep her out of trouble for me."  
  
With an indelicate snort, Sam headed back for camp, with Jaffer trotting happily by her, and Jack turned to the next form that was crouched near the wall a bit further down.  
  
"Daniel."  
  
There was no reply, and Jack sighed and thumped Daniel in the shoulder with the canteen. The archeologist looked up, surprised.  
  
"Hey, Jack. Is that coffee?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Daniel took it and took a drink eagerly. It was, after all, his first taste of coffee all day.  
  
"Time to go back to camp, Daniel."  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Because I just saw a guy walk past gathering up animals two by two to put them on his little boat."  
  
Despite his irritation at the interruption, Daniel had to smile at that one.  
  
'It's not quite that bad, Jack."  
  
"It's bad enough. I've already sent Sam back to get warmed up."  
  
O'Neill looked over as he and Daniel were joined by Teal'c.  
  
"Time to go back, Teal'c."  
  
"I agree, O'Neill. I am ready to get warmed up."  
  
"See?"  
  
Daniel scowled, but nodded. He was cold and wet, too, and ready to get warm for a while. Besides, he had enough copied symbols to give himself a good start. Hopefully they weren't washed out with all the rain that had fallen on them, despite his efforts to keep them dry. He stood up, taking another drink of coffee (Daniel didn't sip coffee, he drank it), and tucking his paper into his jacket like Sam had earlier.  
  
The three of them headed across the ruins, towards the forested area the camp was settled in. The moment they left the stone ruined area, and entered the trees, however, they were brought up short. Standing in front of them, blocking their way by mere Presence alone, was a... Being.  
  
.................  
  
Sam and Jaffer had just reached the canopy when she realized that the big lab had stopped and was looking back over his shoulder. She assumed that Jack was coming, since that would definitely draw his attention, but Jaffer's tail wasn't wagging like it would have been if it had been Jack that was drawing Jaffer's attention. Sam didn't know Jaffer's moods as well as Jack did – no one did, of course – but she'd known him since he was a puppy, and she knew him as well as anyone besides Jack ever would. Something definitely had his attention, and it was something – or someone – he didn't know. She was about to say something to get his attention when he suddenly bolted back the way they'd come, his hackles raising, but no challenging growl.  
  
Sam followed, stopping only long enough to grab up a P-90, since she knew that none of the others were armed.  
  
Jaffer didn't know what to make of the Presence he suddenly felt. The lab didn't smell anything. Over the sound of the rain, he didn't hear anything. He just knew that something was different, and he reacted to it, certain that his Jackwas going to need his help. 


	28. 28

Gorul wasn't a god. He was a traveler. A member of a very extraordinary race that loved to explore new places and meet new people. His people had powers, yes. Innate abilities that allowed them to do pretty much whatever they wanted, and go where they pleased. But they weren't all-knowing, and they weren't all powerful. And there were very, very few of them, for they were slow to reproduce, since circumstances had to be absolutely exact in order for the females to bear young.  
  
Power does not always corrupt, though. Yes, Gorul was powerful, and could do as he pleased, and he knew that the people of several planets that he'd visited had thought him to be a god. He didn't tell them otherwise, for it was easier to pretend than it was to explain to them the truth. Especially since many of the peoples were far less advanced than he was, and there were times when they would never be able to understand, no matter how simply he put it. So he acted as god to them. To many people on a few different planets. Planets that he rather enjoyed, because of their beauty, or because of the people that inhabited them. Planets he visited often, although he rarely revealed himself to the populations unless it was necessary.  
  
But he wasn't a cruel god to them. He knew of the Goa'uld – all his kind did and all his kind opposed them. Power did _not_ mean dominion. Power meant you used it to take care of others. To nurture those who were weaker. To protect them when they were in danger. You didn't use that power to bestow fear and suffering like the Goa'uld used theirs. Gorul was better than that. Even though he was young for his race, he knew right from wrong. Besides, he genuinely liked the people of Seral, and was shocked when he'd returned only moments before and he had discovered that there were strangers on the planet, near the ruins.  
  
Immediately he assumed the worst. Especially when he sensed the presence of the Jaffa. He'd had dealings with humans before, and knew that they were as varied as the planets he'd visited. They could be good or bad, and he had to assume that since these humans were allied with a Jaffa, they must be evil. Which meant they had no business being on Seral.  
  
The rain had been falling when he'd arrived on the planet, but he didn't wait. He was anxious to drive them away from the planet before they encountered the Hyl. Not that they could harm them, since the people were capable of fading into a different plane of existence, but the young would be frightened, and that just wouldn't do, and if they found the secret camps, they could wreak havoc on their crops and homes, which would make life harder for the gentle people.  
  
He saw three forms coming through the ruins, and moved to stand before them, blocking their path, and they stopped immediately when they saw him.  
  
...................  
  
Jack didn't have a gun. He'd left the weapons at the camp without even thinking about it. They'd met the people of the planet, and found them to be friendly, and he'd assumed the rain would keep all other dangers under cover for the duration of the storm. Obviously, though, whatever this... being... was, it wasn't bothered by the rain anymore than the floating hand people were. And it seemed almost angry. Which could be bad.  
  
"The Goa'uld are not welcomed on this planet."  
  
The deep voice spoke in English, which made Jack's jaw drop. He was getting almost used to not understanding what people around him were saying.  
  
"We're _not_ Goa'uld," Jack said, without even thinking about it. He just hated the idea that someone would mistake him for some slimy snake bastard.  
  
The being turned his gaze to Jack, but his hand raised up and pointed at Teal'c.  
  
"The _Jaffa_ serve the Goa'uld. Do not think to deceive me."  
  
He had his answer. The humans were in league with the Jaffa and one had lied to him. They were here to cause trouble. Or perhaps they were an advance group, searching for new planets for the Goa'uld to plunder.  
  
"_I_ do _not_ serve the Goa'uld."  
  
The Jaffa himself spoke, and the lie caused rage to course through Gorul. A bolt of energy shot from the hand that was pointed at Teal'c, and the Jaffa was blasted back several feet, where he lay still. The hand turned towards Jack and Daniel.  
  
The two men dodged into the nearby brush, Daniel going left, and Jack heading right, and slightly back. He wouldn't leave Teal'c out in the open with this deranged whatever it was out to kill them. The hand came toward him once more as he rolled out of the brush next to Teal'c and grabbed the unconscious Jaffa's jacket to pull him out of the way.  
  
The hand leveled at Jack. He saw it, and refused to move away without bringing Teal'c with him. He'd rather take the hit than leave Teal'c to face the thing alone. He tugged, and pulled Teal'c a little to the side, bracing himself for the hit he was going to take.  
  
Then Jaffer was there. Jack hadn't left his primary weapon back at the camp; he'd sent the weapon back to the camp with Sam, and now it was back, teeth flashing and absolutely no warning growl as the black lab took in the threat, and chose his target.  
  
The shot – if that's what a beam of energy coming from some hand could be called – went wide as one hundred plus pounds of very angry dog slammed into Gorul and knocked him to the ground. Jaffer's attack didn't ease once he had the being on the ground, though. He was trained to press an attack once he had the upper hand, and the black lab's teeth went for Gorul's throat.  
  
Gorul was dazed by the attack. Both the ferocity of the attack and the creature that was attacking him. He'd seen dog-like creatures once or twice in his long life, but never had he been this close to one, and never had he had one attack him. The action showed a loyalty that Gorul hadn't thought the dog creatures capable of, and a ferociousness that was shocking. The shock was what gave Jaffer the chance to knock the being down, but Gorul wasn't going to stay surprised for long.  
  
Even as Jaffer's teeth closed on the being's throat, Gorul threw his hand up and pushed the dog away from him, gaining enough space that he could bring his hand around to level off a counterattack.  
  
"Jaffer!"  
  
Jack had regained his feet, and plowed into Gorul, determined that the hand wasn't going to fire at his baby. Better he take that shot himself. The being and Jack went tumbling, Jack grabbing the arm that he'd witnessed firing the bolt, and Gorul trying to bring it around for a shot at the one who dared to attack him. Both grunted when another body landed on them, and then Gorul barked a cry of pain when Jaffer's teeth finally found a mark, and the being's hand was slashed open – only inches from Jack's hand, which was mute testimony to the fact that Jaffer had very good aim.  
  
"Jack!" Sam had arrived, just in time to see Daniel launching himself into the fray as well. Daniel didn't have a weapon, either, but he was pretty sure they'd be better off if they could keep the being on the ground and keep that dangerous hand pinned. Just as he was reaching for it, though, Jaffer's black head had flashed in and the teeth had made their own mark.  
  
Gorul roared with pain and anger, and flung all three of his assailants off with a burst of power. Daniel and Jack went flying one way, Jaffer went flying another, and all three of them landed hard, stunned. Gorul regained his feet, his eyes flashing with anger as he noticed Sam for the first time. She raised her P-90 at the exact same moment that he raised his bleeding hand towards her, and things were about to get very messy, when there was a sudden very high-pitched scream.  
  
"_Ja-fer_!"  
  
Gorul turned. Despite herself, Sam turned as well. Both of them saw a very small figure running towards them at full speed, tears in her eyes and her hands up as she took in Jaffer's still form. 


	29. 29

The sound of Jaffer's name being called brought Jack's head up. He was hurting and stunned from the blast of power that had knocked him back, but he struggled to his feet and lurched over to Jaffer, reaching the still lab the same moment the little girl did. Both of them knelt beside the dog as Sam and Gorul watched, both of them with their weapons still up, although neither was ready to fire them. Not with the little girl there to witness it. And for the same reason.  
  
He looked down at the black lab, then over at the little girl, certain that her voice was the same one he'd heard only days before. The first contact he'd had with her people. He put his hand on Jaffer's body, and felt a pang of relief and thankfulness when he felt that solid heartbeat under his fingers, and looked up and met the little girl's brown eyes. They were filled with fear and tears, and Jack knew that it was fear for Jaffer. He reacted to that fear as he would have had it been Shawn or Gina or Andrew in front of him, and not a stranger.  
  
"It's okay..." He whispered to her.  
  
"Stay away from her!"  
  
The little girl flinched at the sharp command – although she didn't understand it, she recognized the anger in it. Jack turned toward Gorul, moving so he was between her and the being. Gorul's hand was lifted and pointed at him, but Jack hadn't backed down from him when it was Teal'c he was protecting, and he sure as hell wasn't going to back down from the shot when it was a child.  
  
"Don't hurt her," Sam warned Gorul, leveling her P-90 at him. There was absolutely no hesitation in her voice or body language. She'd face whatever he'd throw at her to keep him from harming the child.  
  
Gorul was confused. It was obvious from the way they were acting that they were protecting not only each other, but also the child of the Hyl. A child they certainly couldn't care enough about to be willing to face his wrath to defend. But there was no denying that the human had placed himself between Gorul and the girl deliberately. And there was no doubt that the weapon in the woman's hands was pointed at him to keep him from hurting the child. A child _he'd_ never hurt! _He_ belonged here. They did _not_. And yet, the girl seemed to think they were her friends, and he was the one to fear. She was certainly looking at him fearfully.  
  
"Who are you?" He asked them, lowering his bleeding hand just a little.  
  
"_Ja-ack_!"  
  
A new voice brought all heads around once more, and those that were still conscious saw Y'soa running towards them, followed by a small group of men, including the ones they'd met earlier.  
  
"_Ril'opild! Dah! Gorul nah gu'lkis! J'idshlo Gedloi_!"  
  
Gorul scowled, looking back at Jack and the girl, who shrank fearfully back behind Jack when she saw the scowl. The being saw the reaction and tried to school his expression, but the girl stayed where she was, even when Y'soa called her.  
  
"_Gedloi_?"  
  
"You are _Ja-ack_?" Gorul asked O'Neill.  
  
"That depends..."  
  
"Y'soa says you are friends. Why do you attack?"  
  
"Hey, _you_ started this, buck-o," Jack said, his worry for Jaffer and the rest of his team definitely getting the better of him, and making his temper start to show. "We weren't doing anything, and you showed up and called us Goa'uld and started shooting... or whatever..."  
  
"You are with a _Jaffa_."  
  
"Who _told_ you he's not with the Goa'uld," Daniel said, weakly, still lying in the mud with the rain pelting down on him, shaken but mostly conscious, even though he had a pounding headache.  
  
Sam lowered her P-90 completely and went over to kneel by him, checking him for any injuries. He waved her away, sending her over to check on Teal'c, who still hadn't moved.  
  
"No one can trust a Jaffa." Gorul said, confused. "Everyone knows that."  
  
"I trust Teal'c with my life."  
  
"You are a _fool_, then."  
  
"And _you're_ a son of a bitch."  
  
"Um... Jack..."  
  
O'Neill's temper was flaring, though, and he reached out and put the little girl's hand on Jaffer's warm side to tell her to stay put, then hauled himself painfully to his feet and took a couple steps toward Gorul, his shoulders and face set in a manner that those who knew him, knew well. He was about to deliver a first class ass chewing.  
  
"You come waltzing in here like you own the place, asking who we are and not believing us when we tell you. Then you just start shooting when you decide you don't like the answers. I don't know who the _hell_ you think you are, but if your little stun-ray hand thing has permanently hurt Teal'c or Jaffer, _I'm_ going to make sure –"  
  
"You are _not_ Goa'uld."  
  
Jack stopped his tirade, interrupted by what had to be the most obvious statement ever made.  
  
"No shit."  
  
"The Jaffa does not serve the Goa'uld?"  
  
Jack opened his mouth to answer, but Sam beat him to it. Probably to keep O'Neill from saying something that might really piss off the being.  
  
"No. He's on our side. He fights with us, against the Goa'uld."  
  
Gorul walked over to stand near where Teal'c was lying, but Jack once more placed himself between Gorul and Teal'c, raising one hand in warning, even though he wasn't holding a weapon in it.  
  
"I will not hurt him."  
  
"Oh? I'd say that the evidence shows otherwise."  
  
Gorul scowled, but really there wasn't anything he could say to that. The Human was correct. The Jaffa had been injured by Gorul, and no one else. And he hadn't attacked Gorul, either. Which made the attack seem even worse, since it was obviously unwarranted and had been dishonorable.  
  
"_You_ are not very friendly."  
  
It was Jack's turn to scowl, but he was interrupted before he could say anything.  
  
"_Ja-ack? Di'skilud al fi'strud He'skfi, Ja-fer, en Tee-alk_."  
  
"He says Tee-alk and Ja-fer are hurt." Gorul supplied absently when he noted the confused look on Jack's face. "_Tee-alk_ is obviously the Jaffa. Is this _Ja-fer_?" he pointed to Daniel."  
  
"No, that's _Daniel_," Jack said. He pointed to where the little girl was huddled next to the black lab, who was as still as Teal'c was. "That's Jaffer."  
  
"He attacked me."  
  
"Because you attacked us, you stupid bas-"  
  
"Jack."  
  
O'Neill sighed. "Okay, look. Obviously we got off on the wrong foot here. I need to get my people out of the rain, and get Teal'c and Jaffer taken care of. After I do that, you can tell me who you are, and I'll tell you who we are, and hopefully we can get this straightened out."  
  
Gorul pointed his bleeding hand at the Jaffa, and mumbled a word under his breath. Teal'c's eyes opened immediately, and he sat up, looking around and wondering where all the people had come from.  
  
"O'Neill? What has-?"  
  
Jack was impressed despite himself, and he knelt down next to his friend.  
  
"Are you all right?"  
  
There was a moment while Teal'c decided the answer to that, then he nodded.  
  
"I am."  
  
Jack nodded and stood up again, painfully, then reached his hand down and helped Teal'c to his feet, even as Gorul pointed his hand towards Jaffer.  
  
"Easy..."  
  
It was a warning, nothing more. Jack didn't like Gorul pointing that dangerous hand at Teal'c and he definitely didn't like it pointing at Jaffer. Of course, he couldn't help but feel a _little_ satisfaction that the hand being pointed was still bleeding profusely.  
  
"I will not hurt him further." Actually, Gorul wanted a chance to examine the dog-like creature, and rather hoped that by healing him, Ja-ack would let him near it.  
  
Sure enough, a moment later, Jaffer's head came up a moment later, and the black lab looked around as if wondering what had happened.  
  
"Jaffer."  
  
The lab turned his head, and wagged his tail when he saw Jack standing close by. The little girl let out a squeal of delight when the dog got to his feet, and she hugged him tightly. Jaffer, of course, allowed this more than willingly, even though he wanted to go see Jack. Vicious attack dog that he was snort, he did like to be made a fuss over.  
  
Gorul and Y'soa exchanged words for a moment, then the being turned towards Jack.  
  
"I am told you have a camp near here. Perhaps we can have that talk now?" 


	30. 30

For all the power he held, Gorul couldn't control the weather. Unfortunately. The rain was coming down even harder than ever as the group walked to SG01's camp. The fire was still going, but Teal'c built it up even higher with some of the dry firewood Jack had stacked close at hand earlier, causing what was already a fairly warm space under the canopy to become even warmer. The Hyl – which was what Gorul had told them the floating hand people called themselves – had left. All except for Y'soa, who would remain and be a part of their 'talk', even though the only one who spoke his language was Gorul. Gedloi had had enough trauma that day, and her father – who it turned out was Y'soa – had sent her back to her people, with an escort to make sure she arrived there.  
  
They were all soaked to the skin, and Daniel, Jack, Teal'c and Jaffer were all muddy from having been thrown to the ground during their battle with Gorul, but none of them bothered to change. Jack and Daniel both felt awful. Teal'c and Jaffer had been healed by Gorul, who'd brought them back to consciousness, but Daniel and Jack had fought their way back to reality on their own, and their heads were pounding from the ordeal. They were pale, and looking slightly dazed, but aside from downing a few aspirin there wasn't much that could be done for them. It was an affect that would wear off eventually, but would have to do so naturally, since they were already awake and couldn't be healed by Gorul.  
  
Sam told Jack and Daniel to sit down, and she brought them both coffee, which Daniel accepted gratefully, and Jack set aside. He had his hands full with Jaffer, who was reacting to the underlying mistrust Jack still held for Gorul and was casting an occasional warning look at the being, accompanied by a low growl that plainly said he wasn't quite yet ready to forgive and forget. O'Neill wasn't, either.  
  
He kept Jaffer close. Sitting on the ground leaning against a fire-warmed rock, Jack had Jaffer's big warm body between his knees with the damp black fur pressed closely against his chest and belly. Their comfort position. Sam sat on his right, and Y'soa sat on his left, with Daniel next to him. This placed Gorul across the fire from Jack, which was fine, since O'Neill didn't want to have to move his aching head to look at the being any more than necessary. Teal'c remained standing, and even though his fingers itched to hold his staff weapon, he wasn't carrying it, although he was watching Gorul intently, as though expecting a repeat attack at any moment.  
  
The Hyl had accepted a cup of coffee as well, and Jack wished he had some more Oreos to offer him to go with it. The man obviously liked the coffee, though, since the first cup went down quickly, and he smiled gratefully when Carter poured him another, which he nursed a little longer this time. Gorul had declined refreshment, although he did accept a bandage for his bleeding hand, and Sam helped him wrap it up. He was more intent on finding out who these Humans were, though, and he looked at Jack intently, knowing he was the leader.  
  
"Where are you from?"  
  
"Earth."  
  
Jack rubbed his aching head, wishing that he could leave this conversation to the others, but knowing that he couldn't. Daniel wasn't feeling any better than Jack was – maybe even worse, to judge by the way he was leaning so heavily against his rock – and Teal'c wasn't going to have a friendly conversation with the being that had pretty much sucker-punched him. Sam would have been able to manage it, and Jack trusted her, of course, but it wasn't fair to leave it all to her. So he did the talking for SG-1.  
  
"Earth?"  
  
"Yeah, it's... um... out in space. By the sun. And Mars, and Venus and Saturn. You know, the planet with all the rings?"  
  
Gorul didn't have a clue. Daniel leaned forward and drew the Tau'ri symbol in the dry dirt on the ground in front of him with the hand not holding the coffee cup. Not the whole address, of course, just the one symbol the being might recognize.  
  
"We're from here." Daniel said. "We came through the Stargate to explore this planet."  
  
"To what end?"  
  
Gorul, of course, knew all about the Stargate, although he didn't recognize the symbol, except that it was one found on the Stargate itself.  
  
"We have a lot of reason to explore," Daniel said. "We know that many of the people from our planet's history have been taken by the Goa'uld and are out here somewhere, so we look for them. We're also interested in other cultures. Other people. Like Y'soa here."  
  
The Hyl smiled when he heard his name, even though he didn't understand the rest of what was said. Gorul translated for him, and his smile broadened.  
  
"We're also looking for allies," Jack said, taking over for Daniel, who looked about ready to pass out. He was pale and shaky. Of course, that was how Jack felt, too, although he hid the shakiness behind Jaffer. "To help us fight the Goa'uld."  
  
"The Hyl are a peaceful race." Gorul said, protectively. "They will not join your battle against the Goa'uld."  
  
"We didn't even know they were _here_," Jack said, shrugging. "We came to check out the ruins. Some of our people found them a few weeks ago, and we wanted a better look."  
  
Gorul could understand that. He, himself, was an explorer and loved nothing more than to see new people and places, after all.  
  
"You intend no harm to the Hyl?"  
  
"Nope." Jack shrugged, resting his chin on Jaffer's head. "As a matter of fact, they've been far more help to us than we ever could have asked." He went on to tell Gorul about the attack of the felines, and how he and Jaffer would definitely have been kibble without the intervention of the Hyl, and then gestured to the canopy overhead, mute testimony to their help that morning.  
  
"They've been nothing but kind to us," Sam said, smiling brilliantly at Y'soa, who echoed the smile.  
  
"They are kind people," Gorul agreed. "With extraordinary innate powers of their own."  
  
"Yeah, we've seen them," Jack said, nodding. "It's not a technology?"  
  
"No. It's just an ability."  
  
"A very handy one..." Teal'c said in his deep voice from where he was standing behind Jack.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Gorul looked at Jack and Daniel, who both looked awful, even though he was hardly a judge of Human health. "I need to go speak with the Hyl and make sure all is well with Y'soa's people," He told SG-1. "I would like to continue this conversation, however, at a later time when you've had a chance to rest."  
  
He didn't mention that it was his own fault they looked like they did, and Jack – for once – was diplomatic enough to not mention it, either.  
  
"That's fine. We'll be here."  
  
Gorul stood, as did Y'soa and Sam, but Jack and Daniel couldn't have gotten up if their lives depended on it just then. Jaffer watched the being suspiciously, his head down and just a hint of a growl rumbling in his chest. Jack stroked the still-damp black hide, and the growl subsided, but the suspicious look remained. Until Y'soa came over and knelt in front of Jack and Jaffer, and put his hand on Jaffer's head.  
  
"_Ja-fer, hes'akiltuf al sheckil'a_."  
  
Jaffer didn't know what it meant, but he recognized the cheerful tone of voice readily enough, and his tail wagged idly as he licked Y'soa's hand. Jack looked at Gorul, waiting for a translation.  
  
"He told Jaffer that he was looking forward to seeing him again."  
  
Jack nodded. "Tell him he's welcome here anytime."  
  
Gorul passed the message on, and Y'soa smiled, and bowed slightly, then stood once more.  
  
"We shall return when the rain ceases in the morning." Gorul said.  
  
"That's assuming it's ever going to stop," Sam said, handing Y'soa a canteen filled with coffee for the Hyl to take with him. Might as well, since he liked it – and they had plenty to share.  
  
"It will stop."  
  
Gorul and Y'soa raised their hands in farewell, and turned and left, walking back into the woods through the driving rain, although they both phased out so the rain didn't touch them.  
  
"This is great," Daniel said.  
  
Jack looked over at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We can find out what happened to the Mayans, and we can communicate with the Hyl, now. And the name Hyl is a lot shorter than calling them the floating hands people, isn't it?"  
  
"Well..." Jack was rather fond of the name he'd given them.  
  
"You guys need to go get some rest," Sam decided, before they could get into a lengthy conversation. They had half the day left and all night before Gorul would be back to talk to them again, and since they didn't need to do any more translating on the wall, they had plenty of free time to relax and get over the aches and pains of the day and to talk about what had happened.  
  
"I'm not going to argue that," Jack said, nodding. "Teal'c? Help Daniel get to bed, will you? Sam? You mind helping me?" 


	31. Epilogue

Epilogue:  
  
The gate flared. There were no alarms, for this was a scheduled return, and SG-1's signal came through immediately. Hammond waited just long enough to make sure it was really their signal, then he walked from the command room down to the embarkation room to welcome them back.  
  
Carter came through first, carrying her P-90 and her pack. Right next to her was Jaffer, who wagged his tail when he realized they were back at the SGC and that it was Hammond standing there waiting for him. He trotted over; his brown eyes shining with health and his black hide gleaming even in the relatively dim light of the embarkation room. Obviously being off- world agreed with him. Hammond smiled and patted his head, giving Sam a greeting as he watched another form emerge.  
  
This one was Teal'c, who was carrying the majority of the supplies that SG- 1 had taken with them – minus the foodstuff, of course, since most of that was gone.  
  
"Welcome back, Teal'c," Hammond said as the Jaffa walked down the ramp.  
  
"Thank you, General Hammond," Teal'c gave him a slight bow and moved to the side as the other two members of SG-1 appeared through the gate. Hammond sighed.  
  
Jack and Daniel were both limping. They were both moving slowly, as if in pain, although since they hadn't returned early, it was obvious to Hammond that they weren't seriously injured. If they had been, Teal'c and Carter would have insisted on returning before the week was up.  
  
"What happened?" Hammond asked as the two men limped down the ramp, and Jaffer trotted back up to greet Jack as though he hadn't seen him in days.  
  
"Just a misunderstanding, Sir," Jack said.  
  
Knowing he'd hear more about this misunderstanding during the debriefing, Hammond nodded.  
  
"Report to the infirmary, SG-1. Doctor Fraiser is waiting for you. Debriefing is in one hour, unless I hear otherwise."  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
Jack turned and led his team out of the embarkation room, and Hammond just shook his head and headed back to his office. At least they were home safe, and there wasn't any blood on the floor.  
  
.......................  
  
"What in the world happened to you?"  
  
Jack and Daniel both scowled, but they'd expected the question. It had only been three days since their battle with Gorul, and the two of them were still feeling the effects.  
  
"We got in a fight."  
  
"With each other?"  
  
Sam smiled.  
  
"With Gorul."  
  
"What's a Gorul?"  
  
"We'll tell you all about it later," Carter promised.  
  
"Good." Fraiser gestured for a corpsman to come over and help Daniel to an examination table, and then she helped Jack sit down on one, and helped him pull off his shirt. Jaffer eyed the bed Jack was sitting on, and jumped up to sit next to Jack. Janet was about to tell him to get down, when she was distracted.  
  
"Ouch. Where did you get those?" She had bared the half-healed scratches left by the feline battle. Four on the back of his neck, and an assortment of them on his lower back. She looked over at Sam who blushed slightly at the implication, and shook her head.  
  
"I didn't do it."  
  
"Was it the Gorul?"  
  
"Nah, Jaffer and I had a run-in with some cat critters that went bad."  
  
Janet looked over at Jaffer, running her gentle fingers along the black fur, feeling the telltale welts left by the half-healed scratches that were covered by his thick fur. Jaffer whuffled her hand, not bothered at all by the touch. He liked being touched!  
  
"Why didn't you come home?"  
  
"We had it under control. Some of the natives of the planet gave us something for the cuts, and it worked pretty well."  
  
Sam nodded, "I have the rest of it in my pack. We brought it home so you could take a look."  
  
"It did work well," Fraiser had to admit. The scratches weren't red or infected-looking – which was common with feline scratches – and they were nicely scabbed over, which meant they were well on their way to healing. "Do they hurt?"  
  
"Not as much as the rest of me does."  
  
"It'll probably be a good idea if you take a few days of light duty, Colonel," Janet said, as she drew blood from his arm. "But you don't seem to be suffering too badly." He wasn't complaining about hurting, which was a good sign.  
  
"Nah, I'm fine."  
  
She took his temperature, then checked his blood pressure and his eyes, and nodded.  
  
"Everything looks fine. Unless I find something in the blood tests, you'll be given a clean bill of health – with the exception of the light duty for a few days."  
  
Jack nodded, and put his shirt back on, slowly.  
  
"Go find something to do while I check Major Carter out, Colonel."  
  
Suppressing the urge to comment about being willing to check Sam out for her – which would have been wildly inappropriate on base – Jack nodded, and left the infirmary with Daniel, who'd just been given the same checkup Jack had been, with the same results.  
  
"Light duty?" Jack asked.  
  
"Oh, yeah."  
  
"Ah, well. I didn't want to do anything strenuous this week anyways."  
  
"Me, either."  
  
"Come on, we can go get showered before debriefing."  
  
Yeah, a hot shower sounded like a great idea to both of them.  
  
.........................  
  
"So the planet is occupied?" Hammond asked them about an hour and a half later.  
  
They were all seated around the briefing table, except Jaffer, who was sitting at Jack's feet.  
  
"Yes, Sir. By the Hyl."  
  
Hammond nodded. He'd already heard the basics of what had happened, including the meeting with the Hyl, and the meeting – and battle – with Gorul.  
  
"They're friendly, General," Daniel said, "But they aren't going to make good allies against the Goa'uld. They don't have technology we can use, and their planet's resources are minimal."  
  
"And we don't want to establish a base there?"  
  
"I wouldn't recommend it, Sir," Jack said. "Mainly because I don't think the Hyl need to be subjected to anymore of our technology than necessary. But mainly, they're a very gentle folk, and I wouldn't want the Goa'uld to get wind of our base and come looking for it and maybe find them."  
  
Hammond nodded. That was fair enough. And Jack was probably absolutely correct.  
  
"And this Gorul fellow?"  
  
"Well... he's another story, General." Jack said. "He'd be a fine ally against the Goa'uld, but there aren't many like him. I guess his people are really spread out, and they don't organize together very well, or very often."  
  
"They're pretty much explorers, General," Daniel said. "He told us he'll always oppose the Goa'uld when they bring trouble to him, but he won't go looking for them to fight them."  
  
"And no technology we can use?" Hammond asked.  
  
Jack shook his head. "His abilities are all natural, too. We found neat people, Sir, just not people who can help us."  
  
Ah well. It happened that way sometimes. Hammond nodded.  
  
"And how about Jaffer?" He asked. "How did he do?"  
  
"He was great, Sir." Jack beamed with pride. Hammond looked over at Carter, who nodded.  
  
"He was, Sir. He was the main reason the Hyl showed themselves in the first place, since they'd never seen a dog before, and he gave us an extra weapon in the fight with Gorul. He's getting very good with those teeth."  
  
"I concur, General," Teal'c said. "Serious consideration should be given to adding a canine to each SG team. Or at least to many of them."  
  
Hammond nodded. "I'll discuss it with the powers that be, even though it might not happen for a while. It'll be good to have this mission to show them as an example." He looked at Daniel and Jack, who looked tired, and at Carter, who looked like she needed a chance to soak in a warm tub for a while. Teal'c, of course, looked fine.  
  
"You have the weekend off, SG-1. Get some rest."  
  
They all stood up – some quicker than others – and headed for the door. Jack waved a goodbye to Teal'c, who was going to go get a shower, and told him and Daniel to over for dinner, he was going to try and make that fish stew.  
  
They didn't look too enthusiastic about that – Jack had tried to make it the night before they'd returned and it had turned out positively awful – but they told him they'd try. Which meant it would just be him and Jaffer and maybe Sam, if she didn't think fast and come up with an excuse to get out of it.  
  
"So, Carter..." Jack said, smiling as Daniel left them to head for his office. He had reports of his own to write.  
  
"Yes...?"  
  
"Do I get to read your journal?"  
  
Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. He was like a puppy with a bone!  
  
"We'll see."  
  
.....................  
  
Author's Note: Okay! That's the end. Yeah, I could have went on with the story and actually written out the conversations they had with Gorul and the Hyl, but it'd have just dragged on and on, and I wasn't sure I had the patience to do that – and I wasn't sure I wanted to subject you guys to it. So I didn't. It probably would have been boring, and I hate that! Let me know (if you would) what you liked and didn't like, and what your favorite line was. 


End file.
